Wizard Hidden In The Leaf
by Corruptmonk
Summary: After defeating Voldemort and freeing the wizarding world from his clutches, Harry was ostracized and labeled as the new Dark Lord. A belated help from Albus Dumbledore offered him a new chance at life, a new home to call his own, a new world to make a name for himself. Strong-Powerful-Shinobi Wizard Harry, Strong-Naruto, no pairings as of yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is another new story from me. Actually, this is an old story which I wrote almost two years ago (even before the first story I posted here in ). I was able to retrieve this story from a USB drive that I thought that I lost (which I later found in one of the boxes in storage, how it got there, I didn't know). Of course, since I was too excited of its recovery, I started working on it immediately and made some editions.  
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**Anyway, please enjoy the very first story I ever wrote, A Harry Potter/Naruto Crossover.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.  
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**Chapter 1: A New Home**

An 18-year old Harry Potter sighed as he stared off into the unknown. He was currently holed up inside Potter Manor after the wizarding world decided a year ago that he was the second coming of Voldemort after he killed the snake-faced bugger.

As usual, the wizarding public took the news without question like the sheep that they were.

It would have been inconsequential since he didn't really care what the wizarding world thought about him but what made the declaration heartbreaking was his friends' reaction to the news.

Hermione and Ron immediately sided with the government and distanced themselves away from him. The Weasleys informed him that he was no longer welcome and should never grace their doorstep again. The only exception was the Weasley twins who didn't believe that he was the next Dark Lord that the wizarding world portrayed him to be. The prankster duo kept him updated of any news concerning him so he would be prepared in case things hit the fan.

Harry smiled grimly when his thoughts strayed to the actions of the Ministry after declaring that he was a Dark Lord. Minister Scrimgeour decided that he wasn't fit to be a Potter since he was going Dark so the former-Auror-now-Minister declared that all of his assets would be confiscated and added to the Ministry coffers.

Thankfully, the goblins were on his side and informed him immediately of this plan and taking stringent measures to protect him and his wealth.

Speaking of wealth, Harry found out right there and then that he was a very wealthy young man. Having no idea as to what his family name entailed, the goblins painstakingly gave him in-depth information of the Potter's standing in the wizarding world, their abundant wealth, and of course, his lineage.

He found out that the Potters were a direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor with him as the only surviving member of the Potter-Gryffindor family. Not only that, because of his Riddle's defeat under his hands, he was granted Right of Conquest to the Slytherin fortune added to his portfolio.

Thankfully, Voldemort was unaware of his family's standing so the Slytherin vault and assets remained untouched; putting Harry on the pedestal of being the richest wizard in the British wizarding world – not that he cared to be honest since he lived most of his life in poverty, he didn't crave for anything material unless he really needed it.

In order to protect his inheritance, Harry made use of the Blood Lock service that the goblins provided; making sure that only he and anyone of his bloodline could open the vaults. All his properties were placed under Fidelius Charm with him as the sole Secret Keeper, making all of them inaccessible to anyone greedy enough to attempt confiscation or theft.

With his inheritance properly protected, Harry started living in Potter Manor, also under Fidelius Charm, as well as other family protections to safeguard his person.

Potter Manor was a welcome haven for Harry to get away from the sheep of the wizarding world. The mansion-like abode was maintained by a dozen house elves who practically threw a party upon his return. It was there that Harry started to make a life for himself and considered it his second chance at life.

Making use of the vast library of the Potter Family, Harry decided to properly train his magic since he didn't make the effort to really learn about it while in Hogwarts. He was somewhat ashamed of himself in downplaying his abilities to be accepted by his friends. He instinctively knew before that he needed to dumb himself down in order to make friends, especially with Hermione who wouldn't want anyone to shine above her knowledge, and Ron whose studying habits left much to be desired unless it was food or quidditch.

The year of stay in Potter Manor, or more specifically, the Potter Library, was an eye opener. He started relearning everything in the Hogwarts Curriculum and found himself quite talented in magic since there weren't any need to dumb himself down or to distract himself from properly learning anything he could.

He found that he was quite talented in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, thought the latter wasn't on a level of being a master but he had no problems brewing the most complication potion available. He couldn't make new recipes to save his life but brewing existing potions was easy for him without Snape breathing down his neck.

He also started working on other branches of magic that he found a fancy in, like wandless magic. He wasn't a master but he could cast spells from First to Fifth Year without a wand successfully. Anything above that would either blow up on his face or fail miserably. He chalked it up to inexperience and promised himself to study harder.

Harry also discovered that he liked Ancient Runes which eventually led him to branch out to include Warding to his study routine. He could cast the basic wards and the most complicated ones would require a thorough study and practice before he could cast them successfully.

Not all of his time in Potter Manor was spent studying though. The elves noticed his somewhat malnourished state and immediately placed him on a stringent potion and exercise program to bring his health back up to speed. After a year of pampering and exercise, he was able to reach his peak physical growth.

His height now reached an impressive 5'10, not as tall as the tallest of his peers but it was tall enough to no longer be called scrawny. His malnourished frame was replaced by a swimmer's build, lithe muscles giving him a well-defined look that would make quite a lot of girls swoon if they ever had the chance to see his physique without his clothes on.

Harry was brought out of his musings when Fawkes appeared in all his fiery glory. The former familiar of Albus Dumbledore appeared sixth months ago while he was practice-brewing Veritaserum in the potions laboratory under Potter Manor. Fawkes immediately bonded to him and established a form of communication that involved emotions and mental images.

"Hi, Fawkes." Harry greeted his familiar. He noticed that the phoenix had a box grasped in its talons. "What have you got there?"

Fawkes didn't say anything, which was nothing new, but pushed the image of Dumbledore putting some stuff inside the box.

"From Professor Dumbledore?" asked Harry towards his familiar. Fawkes trilled an affirmative before depositing the box on the table in front of him before flying over to his perch in the corner.

Curious, Harry grabbed the box and opened the lid. There were some items inside but the rolled up parchment caught his attention. He took it out and opened it. Realizing that it was a letter from Dumbledore, he started to read.

* * *

_Dear Harry, _

_I hoped upon hope that you would never have to read this letter but if my predictions have come to pass then Fawkes would be deliveingr this to you along with the other items that I deemed that you should have._

_You see, Harry, I know that you would be able to vanquish Voldemort. I have no doubt in my mind that you would be able to piece together the clues I left behind that would enable you to bring down Tom Riddle and free the wizarding world from his control. _

_However, I know how the magical world works and I have a feeling that magical Britain would not be giving you the life you deserve. If you're reading this letter then the worst have come to pass and this would be my last helping hand to give you a better life. _

_There are two options available to you now, my boy. The first is to still continue to live your life in the wizarding world and hope that their mistaken view of you would change. If not then I offer you a change of scenery, so to speak._

_During my youth, I was able to discover a world much different to our own and kept it secret ever since. It is still part of our world but it is well-hidden that no outsiders could ever penetrate its barriers, forever separating it from the rest of the populace. _

_Inside the box is a book that would explain everything about this world and would give you an idea what to expect if you decide to move there. After you finish reading the book, I enchanted this letter to reveal the rest of its content concerning some advice to help you adapt to this world better without starting from scratch. _

_Also, included in the box are the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone. I think you already know the significance of these items and I want you to bring them with you or keep them somewhere that no one in the wizarding world would get their hands on them. The Hallows are dangerous and must be kept away from both Light and Dark. I trust no one in their use but you. If my prediction proved right then you are the Hallows' master and they would serve you well. _

_I will end the first part of this letter here and let you browse through the rest of the items in the box. When you're ready, hold this letter again after reading the book if you decide to move to your new home. Its content will magically change to the second letter._

_With love and prayer to your success,_

_Albus_

* * *

Harry blinked and couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Albus Dumbledore was really the most intelligent of wizards of his time. Not only was the old coot able to predict what would happen, it heartened Harry that the wizard would go to lengths to provide him a good life. He knew that he was groomed by the wizard to take down Voldemort and he couldn't blame the man of his manipulation. It was the decision of a desperate man, after all.

Curious, he placed the letter on the table and checked the other items in the box. He saw the Elder Wand and couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. He took it out of the box and when his hand made contact, he could feel a powerful surge of magic flow through his veins. He could feel something snap inside his soul and the power he felt upon holding the most powerful hand on earth.

He knew right there and then that the Elder Wand have granted him its allegiance.

Sighing, he waved the Elder Wand and conjured a wand holsters for it. He marveled at how easy it was to manipulate his magic through the wand. It would seem that the Elder Wand amplifies any spell cast through it, making it better compared to the rest. He added the usual enchantments, similar to what he did with the holster he wore on his right arm that held his Holly and Phoenix feather wand. He strapped it on his left arm and placed his new wand inside. Flicking his left hand, the Elder Wand appeared in his grasp before willing it to return to its new home. Satisfied, he moved to the next item.

He saw the cracked Resurrection Stone but laid it beside the letter since he would never put the spirits of the dead in agony. Calling the spirits to the physical plane through the power of the stone would put them in pain so he vowed to avoid doing so at all cost. He decided to come up with a way to protect the stone later since he wasn't in a hurry.

The next item he found was a shrunken trunk. He lifted it out and felt the enchantment on it. He placed it on the floor and brought out his Holly wand and reversed the shrinking charm it was placed under. Opening the now-enlarged trunk, he saw that it was filled with various books on magic. He vowed to read them later since he knew that Dumbledore would never send him mundane books. Closing the trunk, he pulled out the last item inside the box, a book.

Harry noticed that it was a thick book in brown leather, the title _"The Elemental Nations by Albus Dumbledore"_ on its face. Curious, he opened it and started reading.

* * *

Harry was amazed upon reading the book that Dumbledore advised him to read. It would seem that Dumbledore found an ancient reference to a doorway hidden deep inside the Himalayan Mountains. The doorway was a conduit to a dimension parallel to his own; a completely different world working on a whole new set of rules.

According to Dumbledore's study of the Elemental Nations, instead of magical beings, this new world was governed by individuals known as shinobis. Unlike the shinobis portrayed in movies, these shinobis were powerful in their own right, able to use a unique energy known as chakra to accomplish various feats, from elemental manipulation to physical manifestation. It was astounding, to say the least.

The book almost mentioned that civilians also lived in this world and shinobis acted as paid mercenaries to accomplish certain missions. Unlike muggles and magical, shinobis didn't bother to hide their abilities and the civilians have no problems with it.

Also, the Elemental Nations uses a dialect similar to Japanese with some slight difference. Thankfully, Dumbledore was able to craft a translation spell that would allow him to understand and converse in their native dialect without worries.

Excited at the potential that this world offered as a home, Harry giddily finished the book and absorbed all the information it contained.

It made him think of what he was going to do in this world if he ever decided to move there.

For starters, he could be a civilian and live the rest of his natural life in peace. He could also become a shinobi if he ever wanted to since the book also detailed some information on what a shinobi was supposed to have in terms of physical abilities to be successful in the trade. After perusing this section of the book, Harry noticed that he needed to be physically fit, as well as gaining access to chakra if he ever wanted to be one. He knew that he could duplicate the feat using magic since it was much superior to what chakra could do.

Harry also discovered that the books inside the shrunken trunk were on different topics that described the shinobi lifestyle; from their training program to the various abilities that chakra could perform in and out of the body. How Dumbledore got his hands on these books, Harry would never know.

Since he was done with the first book, Harry decided to go through the rest before making up his mind.

* * *

It was a few months after his 19th birthday that Harry decided to move to the Elemental Nations to start a new life. The decision was sparked by the news that the twin sent him that there was sizable reward for his capture. Considering that he was safely inside his Fidelius-protected home, it would seem that the Minister was desperate to get his hands on him for reasons unknown.

Determined to start anew, Harry lifted Dumbledore's letter and saw it change to reveal another set of instructions for him to follow.

* * *

_Dear Harry, _

_If you read this part of the letter then you have decided for a change of scenery. Such is the case, there are a few things that you needed to do as preparation to make sure that your transition to your new home would go smoothly. _

_For starters, you can still use magic in this world so you need not worry about losing your hard-earned abilities and knowledge. You also need not worry about hiding as a civilian since the few people that I have revealed magic to have welcomed it without question. _

_Now let's proceed with the preparations. _

_First, you need to contact Gringotts. Money in the Elemental Nations is vastly different to our own. Instead of the usual galleons, sickles, and knuts; the Elemental Countries only accepts a unique currency called Ryo. If you want to have money then you need to bring gold bars with you to be converted to the local currency. When I showed a friend of mine in the Elemental Nations a galleon and had it appraised, I was shocked to discover that a galleon to Ryo is equivalent to a month's wage. Bring some gold bars with you and have it exchanged in a local bank. You won't be disappointed. _

_Second, I suggest that you bring a house elf with you. Humans need to go through the doorway in order to safely enter the Elemental Nations. However, I noticed that house elves were capable of traversing dimension as long as they are bonded to their master. I accidentally called my house elf, Dippy, to me and she appeared without problems. A house elf would give you access to both worlds, so to speak, so if you need anything in our world then you can just have a house elf get it. _

_Third, pack only the basic essentials since you can easily buy the necessities when you get there. _

_Last, but certainly not the least, I want you to immediately go to Konoha upon entering the Elemental Nations. Fawkes can get you there without problems since he knows where it is. Upon arriving to Konoha, register yourself to the gate guards (Chuunins if I remember them correctly) and ask them to escort you to the Hokage. You should be introduced to someone by the name of Sarutobi Hiruzen since he was the Hokage at that time. Tell him my name and he will know. _

_If you decide to be a shinobi then let Sarutobi know since he can help you with tutors to achieve your goal. _

_I hope this helps, my boy, and good luck on your new adventure. _

_Albus. _

* * *

Harry appeared in a burst of flame with Fawkes on his shoulder. He was currently wearing a muggle attire of jeans and blue shirt and an overcoat with sleeves up to his wrist to hide both of his wands. He found himself on a road a few miles outside Konoha. Adjusting his backpack to make it more comfortable for travelling, he followed the road while whistling a merry tune with Fawkes trilling in accompaniment.

It took an hour for him to arrive at the gates of Konoha alone since Fawkes decided to fly around and check out the sights before meeting with him later. He wasn't in a hurry and he enjoyed the walk since it had been quite some time since he enjoyed the sight of nature. When he got to the gate, he was stopped by a pair of individuals that Harry immediately recognized as shinobis. Thankfully, Albus had the foresight to include moving pictures of shinobis in his book to recognize them easily on sight.

"Halt!" said one of the shinobi guards. "Who are you and what brings you to Konoha?"

Harry immediately activated the translation spell he read from Dumbledore's book. "My name is Harry Potter and I come seeking the counsel of the Hokage for the possibility of living in your beautiful village." said Harry as a form of greeting.

"H-Ha-ri P-Pota?" the other guard tried enunciating his name, making Harry grimace at how his name was getting mangled by their language.

"Ummm, just call me Hari for now." He said with a smile though he inwardly sighed in relief when the guards nodded in agreement since both of them were having problems with his family name.

"Alright, just sign your name on the log and your purpose of visit before you're escorted to the Hokage." said guard while pointing at an opened scroll on the table beside the gate.

Harry nodded and took the brush while mentally thanking whatever deities were out there for being an experienced painter since pens were not being used here in this world. Dipping it in ink from the bottle beside the scroll, he immediately wrote his name and the purpose of his visit. One of the guards inspected his work before nodding.

A masked shinobi appeared and escorted him to the Hokage Tower. It was a 30-minute walk since he was a civilian and Harry could feel the anxiety of his escort for being slow. He could easily tell the ANBU that he could _apparate_ to get there faster but he decided to keep his magic hidden for now.

During their walk to the tower, Harry reviewed the information he read from the book about the customs of the Elemental Nation so he wouldn't accidentally insult the locals. He likened their custom to Japanese since it was very similar. When they got to the tower, Harry immediately addressed his escort.

"Thank you for escorting me, shinobi-san." Harry said with a bow, surprising his guard who nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. The wizard chalked it up to shinobi skills and vowed to research it later.

After talking to the secretary, Harry had to wait since the Hokage was in an appointment. It was an hour later that the secretary ushered him to the office where an old man wearing a weird hat was busy reading various documents on his table.

"Thank you for having time to seeing me, Hokage-sama." said Harry with a bow.

"No problem. May I know your name and your purpose of coming here to Konoha?" asked the Hokage with a smile.

"My name is Harry Potter though I think we need to come up with a new name since not many in your world could enunciate it properly. Well, before we go into that, I was instructed to come here by my master to see Sarutobi Hiruzen."

The Hokage nodded with a smile though there was a curious gleam in his eyes when he mentioned 'your world' before beckoning for Harry to sit. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen and I am the Hokage. So who is this master of yours?" He inquired curiously.

"His name is Albus Dumbledore." Harry replied immediately.

Sarutobi's face turned to shock before a smile made his way to his face. "Oh! Albus-san. I remember him. How is he?"

Harry gave the Hokage a sad look. "He died a few years ago."

Sarutobi face mirrored Harry. "I see. I met him during my youth a few weeks after I became the Hokage and told me about his circumstances and interviewed me concerning the Elemental Nations since he is not from this world. I take it your magical then?"

"Yes I am." Harry said with a nod. "He was the head of the magic school I attended before I graduated."

"I see. So, Ha-ri," Harry grimaced when his name was being mangled…again which Sarutobi noticed. "What brings you here?"

Deciding to go with the truth since he really wanted to start a new life here, Harry explained everything to the aged leader about his circumstances, starting from his life with the Dursleys, the war with Voldemort, his studies at Hogwarts, the Horcrux hunt, and his his life in wizarding Britain after the fall of the Dark Lord. The Hokage's face was a cacophony of emotions as he went through his tale before ending in a look of understanding which made Harry inwardly sigh in relief.

"Quite a life you went through, my boy, and I can see in your eyes the glint of a warrior. You have gone through much and I can safely say that you became a great person because of it. I have no problems letting you live in Konoha and welcome you with open arms. Would it be safe to say that Albus already taught you everything he knows about this world?" Sarutobi asked while pulling out a bunch of papers from his drawer.

"Yes. He left me a bunch of books to read so I won't have any problems living here. In fact, I memorized all of them." Harry said with a grin which was immediately mimicked by the aged leader.

"Good good. I would just like to say that you don't need to hide your…abilities here since Albus-san informed me that your…magical world tends to hide from civilians. You don't have to fear that separation here considering shinobis can do almost the same thing you do with chakra. Are you going to be a civilian or are you interested in becoming a shinobi? Your abilities would be of great help to the village."

"To be honest, I'm still not sure. I need to acquaint myself with chakra and shinobis in general since Professor Dumbledore's books didn't really go into detail, only a general summary. I can start off as a civilian then decide later if that's alright."

"I have no problem with that. In fact, I have an idea that would be of great benefit to you during your stay here in Konoha and to get your abilities recognized by the village. But first, you need to fill up these forms before we can proceed." said the Hokage while pushing a stack of papers to Harry who eyed it with trepidation.

"That's a lot of paper."

"Yes, I know." Sarutobi said smugly.

Harry raised an eyebrow and flicked out his Holly wand which made Sarutobi eye it with interest. Grabbing the first form at the top of the stack, he tapped it with his wand and watched the information being filled out on its designated place. Sarutobi watched all this in fascination, as well as some jealousy. It was Harry's turn to give the aged leader a smug look.

Sarutobi grabbed the document and saw the information there and raised an eyebrow. "I see that you decided to change your name, Mahora Hari?" he asked curiously.

Hari nodded with a smile "Yes, since my name has been mangled many times by your guards, I thought up a new name for myself since I am starting a new life here. Mahora instead of Potter since Maho is the equivalent of magic in your language. Hari is a play of my real name." explained Hari with a grin.

"I see." Sarutobi said with a nod while checking out the information on the documents. "Hmmm, considering that you have a unique ability that would contribute much to the village, what is your reaction if I suggest that you start a clan here in Konoha."

"A clan?" Hari asked curiously.

"Yes. You see, in this village, there are people who have unique abilities that we call Kekkei Genkai or Bloodline Limit and those who have are given a clan status. For example, the Nara Clan has the ability to use shadow techniques, the Aburame Clan for their use of bugs in battle, and so on. From what Albus told me, magic can be passed on to your children so it would be qualified as a Kekkei Genkai. Such is the case; it would be prudent for you to start your own clan here in Konoha and the privileges it can give you."

"Interesting." said Hari. "What privileges does being clan have?"

"For starters, all information concerning your abilities is a secret to the rest of the populace. In other words, no one can force you to reveal them if you don't want to. Second, a clan head have a seat in our government as long as you have a thorough knowledge of our laws. Also, as a clan, you are given a plot of land where you can start your own family and is considered private grounds that no one can enter without your explicit permission. I can provide you with books detailing the responsibilities of a clan head if you wish to push through with this idea."

Hari thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head in agreement.

"I agree with your suggestion, Hokage-sama. In fact, that would make my life in the village a whole lot easier. Would it be safe to say that being a clan requires me to contribute to the village as a whole?"

"You assume correctly, Mahora-san." said Sarutobi with a smile, surprising Hari at aged man's respect towards him, as well as the use of his new family name. "It is up to you in regards to what you can contribute to the village."

"Hmmmm…I don't think I can give much in terms of magic since I can safely say that I am the only one here that can use magic. I can offer to teach those who display the ability if one ever turns up. I can also make some potions to be used by the public but it needs to be regulated since some of them are quite dangerous."

"Potions?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

Hari nodded. He might as well as show the Hokage what he was capable of. He studied Sarutobi for a bit, deciding what potion to use, until an idea flitted through his head. Grinning, he pulled out a shrunken trunk from his backpack and set it on the floor. He tapped it with his wand to reverse the enchantment, making the Hokage's eyes widen at the display of magic in front of him. Rummaging around the various vials inside the trunk, he pulled out two potions.

These two potions were unique and were considered lost to the wizarding world. In fact, the recipes of these potions were only found in the Potter Library which was ten times larger than those found at Hogwarts.

"Potions are very common element in the wizarding world, Hokage-sama. There is practically a potion for every scenario ranging from healing to poison. These two potions are unique to my…uhhh…to the Potter Clan, or if you want to be technical, the Mahora Clan. The recipes for these two are considered lost and only found in my library." said Hari with a grin as he placed the potions on the Hokage's desk.

Sarutobi studied the two potion vials in front of him; one was pure white while the other was blue. "What do these potions do, Hari?" he asked curiously.

Hari smiled at the way the old man addressed him, not as a subordinate, but as a friend. He made the right decision in showing these potions to him. "These two potions work together. The white potion is called an _Age Reversal Potion_. The amount of potion in that vial is enough to de-age a person 10 years of his life. The blue potion is called a _Permanence Potion_ and any potion drank before it would make the effect permanent. For example, if you drink the white potion followed by the blue potion, you will be de-aged 10 years permanently. However, there is a limit. The _Age Reversal Potion_ may only be administered twice until it would become poisonous to the human body. And not all effects are applicable to the _Permanence Potion_. Why don't you give them a try, Hokage-sama. I'm sure you'll like the results."

Sarutobi looked at Hari with a mix of both curiosity and excitement before a frown marred his face. "I hope you understand that I couldn't drink these potions, Hari. I trust you but as a shinobi, I am automatically wary of anything."

Hari nodded, agreeing with the Hokage's admission since he was in the same shoe. "Are you familiar with a Wizard's Oath, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. Albus explained to me and even used that once when I asked him to promise me not to divulge any information of the Elemental Nations to those he doesn't trust."

Harry nodded before raising his Holly wand. "I, Harry James Potter, now known as Mahora Hari, swear on my life and magic that these potions would never hurt or cause negative effects to one Hiruzen Sarutobi when drank. So I say, so mote it be." He intoned making him glow a bit signifying the activation of the oath. He raised his wand and cast a light spell which flooded the room. "As you can see, I still have my magic so I have not lied to you that these two potions will not be causing you any harm." He said before cancelling the spell.

Sarutobi nodded and drank the white potion first. The effect was instantaneous, some of the wrinkles on the Hokage's face disappeared and some of his hair turned brown though there was still a lot of white there considering his age.

"Amazing, I feel a bit young, well not that young, but sprier compared to before. This is astounding, Hari. So I should drink the blue potion now?" After getting a nod, he immediately drank said potion making him glow blue a bit before dying down. "So I'm now 51 years old?"

Hari fired a spell at Sarutobi making him glow pink. "Well, 51 years, 8 months, and 11 days." He said with a smile. Before summoning another set of the two potions and setting it on the table. "I suggest that you drink these two after 48 hours to de-age yourself to 41. Consider it as a gift."

Sarutobi nodded with a smile before taking the potions and placing it into one of his hidden pockets. "So what other potions do you have with you right now?"

"I have the basic, as well as some medical potions. Why do you ask?"

"In order to attest to the validity of these potions, as well as strengthening your position to start a clan here in Konoha, I would invite some of the council as you administer these potions. Besides, it would be better if they can see the immediate benefits of your clan instead of just taking your word for it."

"I agree with you there Hokage-sama." said Hari with a nod before mentally taking stock of the potion he had in his trunk. "Let me see I have a potion that can re-grow broken or lost bones, potions that stimulate muscle growth, potions that can help heal major wounds, potions to restore blood…hmmmm...I also have some healing potions to cure nerve damage."

"Amazing." Sarutobi breathed out in surprise, crowing in delight at what these potions could do to bolster Konoha's ranks. There were quite a lot of shinobis who retired since they lost an arm or a leg during battle. If these potions work then there would be 50 or so shinobis that could be re-drafted into the ranks. "If it's alright with you, I can set up a meeting with the shinobi council in two hours at the hospital where you will administer these potions to some of the patients there."

"I have all the time in the world, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a smile. He was happy that the demonstration would cement his position in the village and also allow him to use his talent to help people.

After the Hokage sent a missive to the shinobi council to meet him in the hospital in two hours, he and Hari hammered out some of the details concerning his clan status in the village. They decided to show Hari to an abandoned clan house that he could use as his own.

Hari also gave the Hokage a briefcase containing the 30 gold bars he brought with him to be appraised and converted to Ryo in the bank. Hari laughed when Sarutobi's eyes grew as wide as saucer upon seeing the wealth that he brought with him.

Since they had plenty of time to spare, Sarutobi asked Hari to give him some idea as to what he was capable of in magic. Hari's eyes gleamed when he brought out his wand, wanting to show the shinobi leader what he was really capable of.

* * *

**End of Chapter 1.**

**Please leave a comment or a review. Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's another chapter I edited. I got a lot of emails telling me that this story had a lot of followers/favorites. I'm glad. Only if the same amount are reviews. Oh well.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Demonstration at its Finest!  
**

After shocking the aged leader out of his sandals through various feats of magic, the Sandaime Hokage and Hari made their way to the hospital to meet with the rest of the council for his demonstration to cement his position as a valuable clan in the village. Since Hari was the one who would be administering the potions, the Hokage decided to let the newcomer review the roster of patients in the hospital and pick a few that would take advantage of his _unique_ treatment.

When they got there, Hari was immediately introduced to the shinobi side of the council, namely Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chouza, Inuzuka Tsume, Aburame Shibi, and Hyuuga Hiashi. There were a few more that needed to be there but the Hokage suggested that these ones would be the first since they were the most trustworthy and open to the idea of adding new clans to the village. If he could gain their support then Hari wouldn't have to worry about his status in the village.

After perusing the medical records of various patients in the hospital, Hari decided to treat all those he could since he had plenty of potions in stock and he was well-versed in healing spells thanks to his studies in the Potter Library. He could replenish his supply later if need be once he was settled down.

The first patient was from the Inuzuka clan named Shinji. He was scheduled for arm amputation after getting it almost blown off from a mission. When Hari entered the patient's room, he could see the sad look in the man's eyes, telling him that the man already surrendered to the fact that he wouldn't be a shinobi anymore.

After a short greeting, Hari approached the patient while the rest of the council and the Hokage were standing back to observe the process. The young wizard checked the wound and couldn't help but grimace at the sight. The flesh was badly mangled and he could see that the wound was seriously infected that no muggle treatment could cure.

"From the looks of it and the severity of the wound, this needs to be amputated, am I correct?" Hari asked the patient who gave him a resigned nod. "Well, not if I can help it. Fawkes."

Everyone was surprised when a beautiful bird appeared in the room in a flash of fire. Seeing their scared and awed looks, Hari decided to introduce his familiar.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet my familiar, Fawkes. He is a Phoenix and will be helping me in treating Shinji-san here. Phoenixes have the power to heal, both physical and emotional. His song can get rid of negative emotions and their tears can heal any wounds and poison." said Hari to everyone who was looking at the bird in awe. He looked at Fawkes. "Fawkes, would you please heal the man's arm?"

Fawkes trilled in affirmative before flying down beside the patient. He cocked his head to the side and dropped a few of his healing tears on the many wounds on the man's arm. Right before their eyes, the various wounds healed and closed, leaving only a faint scar. Everyone was amazed at what they saw and was giving the red avian a look of profound respect. Fawkes preened at the attention, making Hari smile at his familiar.

"Now, I am not familiar with the spell that would heal broken bones but I can learn that if I need to. However, I will be giving you a potion called _Skele-Gro_ which can re-grow any bones. But first, I need to remove the bone from your arm before it can be re-grown."

"Are you going to operate on him, Mahora-dono?" asked Tsume who was quite happy that his clan member won't be retiring anytime soon. The respectful tone in her voice made everyone look at her in astonishment. Tsume doesn't give respect that easily and it seemed that this young man just gained hers.

"Sorry, Tsume-sama. I am not a surgeon but I have an alternative." Harry flicked his left hand, bring out the Elder Wand. Since he wasn't that good with healing spells, he needed the power of the Elder Wand to assist him and making his spell potent enough to work. He pointed the wand at Shinji's arm and uttered the bone removing spell.

"_**Femura Abeo."**_

A beam of white light hit Shinji's arm, vanishing the broken bones with ease. The arm simply flopped on the bed, like jelly. Everyone was looking at it in disbelief.

"Now, I _vanished_ the bones and you didn't feel any pain since I didn't tamper with the nerves. Now," he pulled out a vial containing the green _Skele-gro_ and held it out to the man. "That is going to taste very bad so please drink it all down in one go." Hari instructed.

Shinji shakily took the potion with his good arm and looked at everyone with fear in his eyes. Seeing the Hokage's nod of encouragement, he downed the potion in one go, almost throwing it up because of the taste. Hari immediately gave him a glass of water which he conjured with his wand and gave it to the man with an amused smile on his face. Shinji took it and gulped it down, washing the horrid taste from his mouth.

"I know how you feel. _Skele-gro_ doesn't really taste that good." Hari said with a shiver, remembering the many times Madam Pomfrey had him drink it.

"That was the _most_ horrid thing I ever tasted in my entire life." Shinji said with a shiver of disgust. "Why is my arm tingling and suddenly becoming painful?"

"It means that the potion is working and in a matter of four hours, your arm will be good as new. Here drink this." Hari handed him another potion vial which Shinji eyed in fear. "Don't be such a baby. This is a _Pain Relief Potion_ and it tastes a whole lot better than _Skele-Gro_."

Shinji sighed and took the potion before gulping it down. He made a face. "Taste weird but it's better than the first one. Hey! It's not painful anymore." He declared in amazement.

"Told you," Hari said smugly. "That potion will last until your arm is re-grown. I will come back in four hours to check on you, alright?"

Shinji nodded before giving him a respectful bow. "Thank you, Mahora-sama. I am forever in your debt. You saved my shinobi career."

Hari patted the man on the shoulder and smiled. "No need to thank me. I know how it feels to have your dream taken away from you. I'm just happy that I could help and keep that dream alive."

Everyone exited Shinji's room and Hari could see the amazed look on the Hokage and the councils' face.

Hari spent the next hour going through different patients and healing them using his potions though there were a few that he had to resort to spells since he didn't have the right potion in stock. He vowed to have one of his elves bring him medical books from the Potter Library to read through if he was going to be helping out in the hospital during his free time.

When he was finished with the last patient and was about to go to the Hokage's office to finalize his status as a clan head, an emergency patient came in. The Head Doctor who was present when Hari healed all the patients came running up to them.

"Hokage-sama, Mahora-sama, we have a patient that is in need of immediate treatment. Mahora-sama, we need your help. Our abilities won't be able to help him." the Head Doctor begged.

Hari immediately nodded to the doctor who led them to an emergency room followed closely by the Hokage and the rest of the shinobi council. Hari saw the patient and almost threw up at what he saw. A shinobi was dying from various major wounds. His stomach was cut open and both of his arms were cut off. He was bleeding like hell. Hari was no professional healer but he knew what he could do to help the man.

"FAWKES!" shouted Hari. The Phoenix knew what his master wanted so he immediately flew from Hari's shoulder and down to the patient before crying into the man's many wounds, healing it all up.

When Fawkes was done with the wounds, Hari immediately fired a salvo of diagnostic spells before unleashing a round of healing spells at the man. The result of the first spell was staggering. The man was suffering from blood loss, broken bones, depleted life force, and the loss of two arms, and a few concussions here and there. Thankfully, Fawkes was able to heal the major wounds.

Not wasting any time, he commanded the nurses in attendance to prop the man's head so he could administer the potions needed. After a nod from the Hokage and the Head Doctor, the nurses did as ordered.

Hari first fed the man a _Pain Relief Potion_ to help the man relax. When that was done, he gave the man two doses of _Blood Replenishing Potions_ to counteract the blood loss. After firing another round of diagnostic spell to check the man's status, he took out two vials of _Skele-Gro_, and a vial of _Muscle Regrowth Potion_ before force-feeding it to the man. He was thankful that the patient was unconscious or he would have thrown up the whole thing out due to the taste.

Another spell later determined that the potions were working and the man's condition was stable, he sighed in relief before slumping down on an available chair as the adrenalin left his body.

"Man, that was close." said Hari with a sigh before downing a _Pepper-Up Potion_ to replenish his lost energy.

"What happened, Hari?" asked a concerned Hokage as he eyed the sleeping man.

"It was a good thing that we made it in time. The man was going to die with the injuries he sustained. Blood loss, both arms cut, major wounds, internal bleeding, and various broken bones and concussion to the head. Not to mention that his life force was dwindling during treatment. Thankfully, Fawkes was able to heal a majority of the man's wounds and started the regeneration of his energy using his tears. I also administered the correct potions to re-grow his arms, muscles and all. He will be fine in 16 hours, give or take a few. I will leave some potions and instructions when he regains consciousness. When he is back to normal, he would need a week of rest before he can go back to his duties" Hari reported before handing some potions to the Head Doctor who took it eagerly.

The shinobi council and the Hokage paled when Hari listed down the injuries. Nothing short of Tsunade's skills could help the man. It was lucky that Hari was around with his spells and potions or another shinobi of Konoha would have been lost.

The result of this display cemented the shinobi council's decision in allowing the creation of the Mahora Clan into Konoha. If this was what the boy was capable of in a simple demonstration, what more could the boy do? They continued to observe the boy as he instructed the doctor on the use of the potions.

* * *

Hari and the Hokage stayed in the hospital for another two hours, treating some patients while talking about magic in general and what he could do with it. The shinobi council already left having already learned what they needed to know about him and his abilities. A meeting of the Konoha council would be called in two days time to discuss the creation of the Mahora clan in Konoha which made Hari smile in happiness.

Before leaving, Hari checked Shinji and saw that the bone in his arm was properly re-grown. After telling the man to take it easy for a few days to let the arm heal properly, he left with the Hokage back to the office to discuss the next step of their plan...finding a home.

* * *

Hari was currently standing in front of an abandoned clan house in the outskirts of the village. According to the Hokage, it hasn't been used since the Kyuubi attack which the aged leader explained in detail. If Hari was honest with himself, he liked his soon-to-be home since it was spacious and the overall design was reminiscent to the Japanese homes he saw in the telly.

"I'll take it, Hokage-sama." Hari said with a smile. "How much is this going to cost me?"

The Hokage coughed and pulled out a sheet of paper from his robe and gave it a glance before handing it to the curious wizard. "The gold you brought were already appraised and converted into Ryo. That is your first statement of account under your name."

Hari took the paper and almost choked when he saw the amount he had.

"Damn. I haven't seen that much zeros in my entire life. Are you sure this is correct?" Hari asked incredulously, his eyes not leaving the paper.

Sarutobi grinned. "Everything in that paper is correct. According to the shinobi I dispatched to handle the conversion, the manager of the bank said that the quality of your gold bars were exceptional and fetched a good price in the market. Considering how heavy they were, it fetched quite a hefty sum."

"Damn. To think that the gold I brought didn't make a dent from my account back home." Hari swore making the Hokage choke.

"You mean to tell me that what you brought was only a small part of your entire inheritance?" Sarutobi asked in disbelief. Hari shook his head.

"Trust me, Hokage-sama. The gold I brought with me only made use of one of my ten vaults and it only took half of it. So, how much is the house and property?"

"I'll process the necessary papers and I can sell it to you at a discounted price considering its status. Let's say, 10,000,000 ryo?" Sarutobi offered. The original value of the property was 50,000,000 ryo but considering it needed a lot of repairs, the rest of the price would be put on renovating the whole thing. Not that Hari needed the money anyway since his current account was almost in Trillion.

"I can live with that. So you're going to deduct it directly from my account in the bank?" asked Hari as he pocketed the account statement.

"Yes. I suggest that you hire a few Genin teams and a construction crew to help with the repairs. I can book you in a hotel for a month or two while your clan house is being constructed." Sarutobi suggested with a smile but grew nervous when Hari gave him a mischievous grin.

"No need, Hokage-sama. I'll take care of it." Hari declared with a grin. The Hokage gave him a disbelieving look. Hari decided to really show the man what magic can _really_ do. "Potter elves to me!"

A loud pop echoed around the compound revealing two dozen house elves in all their glory.

"What in the world are _those_?" shouted Hokage when he saw the elves.

"Those are house-elves, Hokage-sama. Ummm…you can say that their…um…magical servants, so to speak. Anyway," Hari turned to the elves. "Alright guys, this place will be our new home while I'm here. As you can see it needs a lot of repairs. Hop to it boys!"

A shout of "YES MASTER POTTER, SIR!" echoed around the abandoned clan house before the elves started working their unique brand of magic on the abandoned home. Sarutobi was shocked when he saw the wrecked house being repaired with his very eyes. He shook his head in disbelief and muttered a 'Kai' under his breath but whatever he did didn't work since he was still seeing the same thing. The elves were repairing the clan compound piece by piece with a snap of their tiny fingers. It was amazing.

Hari grinned when he saw the Hokage's stunned expression. "As you can see, the Mahora clan house will be up and running by tomorrow. All I need is the address of shops here in Konoha where I get the necessities and I'm good to go." He said cheerfully.

Sarutobi gave Hari a look of disbelief before shaking his head. "Nothing is ever dull around you, Hari. Welcome to Konoha, my boy."

* * *

The meeting with the rest of the council was postponed for a week since the Hokage wanted the Hari to finish his home first before doing anything else. He allowed Hari to complete his work on his clan home since he was already a resident of Konoha though his clan status would have to be decided at a later date. To be honest, Hari wasn't in a hurry as long as he was now a resident.

Thanks to the elves tireless work, the clan house was finished in one day. It went fast because the elves would just repair and do clean-up though some of the small houses within the compound needed to be rebuilt from scratch since they were either too old or too destroyed to salvage.

When everything was done, Hari ordered the elves to bring some furniture from Potter Manor, as well as some in the vaults to spruce up his new abode. He made some necessary adjustments since he needed a place for magic. Hari and the elves decided to use one of the smaller houses connected to the main house by a covered walkway as a potions lab. A few reinforcement wards and spells later, it was good to go. The library had to be expanded since it was too small and some shelves were brought in from Potter Manor before filling it up. Hari decided to create duplicates of the books to be placed inside his new library since he didn't want the original to leave the Potter estate.

Speaking of library, Hari instructed the elves to bring in some books on healing magic (since he wanted to work part-time in the hospital), as well as some books for enchanting since he was already thinking of a way to help his new village improve its military force, and book son battle magic just in case he would join the Konoha shinobi force in the future.

Of course, the elves took it upon themselves to man the kitchen and Hari was shooed out of its creation though he was informed that food would have to be bought from wizarding Britain since they don't know many recipes on the various food served in the village though Hari vowed to correct that soon by a simple trip to the bookstore or library. His elves were happy at the idea of learning new ways to make food which Hari found amusing.

Finally, Hari spent a day adding wards to the Mahora clan compound. Considering that this was the shinobi world, he need to make sure that the wards were up to the task of ensuring his safety while inside.

For starters, he put up an intent-based ward that would repel anyone to harm anyone inside the compound and stopping them from entry. The basic weather protection and insect and animal repellant wards were up next, both wards needed because he was near Training Ground 44, which according to the Hokage had a lot of wild animals who would love but nothing to feast on his flesh. He also put up a battle-based ward connected to the intent-based ward to stun anyone who had the audacity to invade his home, especially those who had the ability to get past the 'repel' function of the ward. He strengthened the clan walls with reinforcement and durability runes for added protection. The two last precautions were necessary because he read in Dumbledore's book that the Elemental Nation hosts various unique abilities that would prove a threat if not properly defended against.

In powering the wards, Hari was thankful that the powering runes seemed to react to the ambient chakra in the air, powering them up to optimum efficiency without having to worry about a recharge. He vowed to study the nature of chakra since it enhanced the power of his wards and maybe it could be used alongside magic for various purposes. He wasn't in a hurry since he had plenty of time to do so.

* * *

Hari was nervous. He was current standing in front of the Konoha council regarding his petition to start the Mahora Clan in the village. He was already a resident, no problem there, but starting a new clan was a serious business since becoming the head of his own clan would mean that he would have a hand in the running of Konoha as part of its council.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting of the Konoha Council. We are here to discuss one major topic and that is the creation of the Mahora Clan here in the village." said Sarutobi causing a lot of whispers to break out in the room. The few who didn't and looked relaxed were those who have seen Hari's capabilities in the hospital a week back. "Would the petitioner come forward and speak his claim?"

Taking it as his cue, Hari strolled forward to face the council and bowed deeply in respect. "Good morning, honorable council of Konoha. My name is Mahora Hari, a recent addition to your fine village. To the Hokage's suggestion, I would like to request your approval to start up my own clan in the village."

"We welcome you to our village, Mahora-san." said Homura with a smile on his face. "However, the creation of a clan requires you to possess a bloodline, as well as provide a contribution to the village in terms of both ability and economically. Are you qualified on both counts?"

Hari nodded, returning the elder's smile. "If it pleases the council, I would like to explain the bloodline of my clan, as well as some demonstration to what I can contribute for Konoha as a whole."

Hari waited for the council to deliberate towards his request. He didn't wait long since one of the Konoha elders gestured for him to continue with interest shining in their eyes.

"As my clan name implies, my bloodline is to utilize the force known as 'magic' or mahou to affect reality." Hari waved his hand, causing the Hokage's table to float up. Everyone looked at it in wide-eyed astonishment. "As you can see, with the use of the unique energy my bloodline possess, I can affect reality through the use of spells. What you just saw is a non-verbal spell to levitate the table." Hari waved his hand again to set the table back on the floor, since further demonstration was required, he started conjuring various items around the room, mostly furniture commonly found in the Gryffindor common room. "That is the creation aspect of my bloodline called conjuration. As you can see, I can create anything as long as I know what the object looks like though there are certain limitations. For example, I cannot create metals due to its unique properties." He started changing the various items in the room to other items to demonstrate his other spells. "What I did is another branch of my bloodline called transfiguration, the ability to change one object to another. Again, there are certain limitations, like I cannot change an object to a metallic property, only an imitation of it."

In truth, there aren't any limitations to either conjuration or transfiguration, well except for the tampering and creation of gold, silver, and bronze due to their magical properties. If they discovered that he can create gold on the fly (thanks to the Elder Wand, of course) then it would destroy the economy. What they don't know won't hurt anyone and the Hokage suggested to adding limitations to his 'bloodline' to avoid questions that needed to be avoided.

"Amazing," said one civilian council member who was giving Hari a speculative look. Hari saw it and made a mental note to avoid the man. He knew the look of greed anywhere since his Uncle Vernon tend to have that look all the time during his many dealings with his clients. "Is that all you can do, Mahora-san?"

"Actually, no." said Hari before pulling out a shrunken trunk from his pocket and placing it on the table in front of him. He tapped it using a finger to reverse the charm he placed on it earlier. "What you just saw was a spell called a Shrinking Charm, allowing me to shrink any items to a smaller size for easy transport. All I did was cancel the spell." Hari explained before opening the trunk and pulled out various potions and placed it in full view of everyone in the room. "These are what I call potions, a unique branch of my bloodline allowing me to utilize unique ingredients to produce an elixir of sorts to different effects."

"What do these…potions do?" said Shimura Danzo who was giving Hari a speculative look. Hari couldn't place it but he was able to sense a generous amount of curiosity from the man though he was quite weary of him. He vowed to ask the Hokage later.

"A week ago when I arrived here in Konoha, Hokage-sama asked me to demonstrate the capability of my potions. With some members of the shinobi council who were available to watch my demonstration on such short notice, we adjourned to the hospital and started treating the patients there using potions and some of my healing techniques."

Quite a lot of people in the room showed recognition in their eyes.

"Wait, you mean you were the one who healed my brother's lung problem?" asked one councilman who was giving Hari a look of respect.

"Lung problem?" asked Hari in confusion before remembering the patient he treated. "Oh, you mean Yanagi Kuro who was suffering from a disease known as Tuberculosis. Did I get it right?"

"Correct. Kuro is my younger brother. My name is Ichigo, Yanagi Ichigo. My brother called you a miracle worker since he had suffered for 10 years with his lung problem and you healed it in a matter of minutes that doctors tried doing for years. You have my thanks, Mahora-sama." said Ichigo with a bow of respect causing everyone to look at the wizard in shock and amazement.

"You are most welcome, Yanagi-sama. Like what I told your brother, I was more than happy to help." Hari said with a smile.

"Are you going to make these wonderful potions of yours available in public, Mahora-dono?" asked Ichigo since he knew that whatever the man had in his disposal would be a great boon to the village.

"Of course, Yanagi-sama." Hari said with a nod. "Once I am settled in, I am going to open up a shop to make my potions available to the public. In fact, I am donating a batch of needed potions to the hospital and hold a seminar of sorts to teach the doctors and nurses there of their use. Konoha is my home now and I will do everything in my power to help it. In fact, I am already in negotiations with him to donate and provide some potions to various departments in the shinobi ranks to aid in their activities, for example." Hari pulled out a vial containing a clear liquid from his trunk. "This is a potion called _Veritaserum_ or otherwise called a Truth Potion. Three drops on a person's tongue would make them answer any question you ask for an hour unless an antidote is given. However, I will be restricting the use of this potion since it would be disastrous if the wrong person get their hands on it."

Everyone nodded while giving the colorless potion a look of awe. Hari smiled at their reaction. The Hokage was giving Hari a happy look since the potion would be a great boon to the T and I department.

"That is much appreciated, Mahora-san." said Danzo, a look of profound respect in his eyes. He might be a warhawk and operated a shadow organization under the bowels of Konoha, but he was nothing more than a loyal soldier to the village who would do anything in his power to protect it. This man in front of him just opened up a powerful bloodline to the aid of the village and offering a unique ptions to make everyone's lives better. He was first thinking of kidnapping the man to find out the source of his abilities but after hearing the explanation and his interaction with the Yanagi head, it was a bad idea to experiment on the metaphorical golden goose. It was better to leave the man along and support him from afar, for the good of Konoha, of course.

"I think we have seen enough of your demonstration, Mahora-san. Would you please step out for a few minutes while the Konoha Council deliberates on your request to set up a clan here in Konoha? You will be called back when a decision is reached." The Hokage told Hari with a smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hari nodded and replaced everything back into his trunk with a wave of his hand, further astounding the council. He shrunk the trunk and placed it back on his pocket. With a bow, he exited the room leaving an excited and astonished Konoha council behind him.

* * *

"What do you know about him, Sarutobi? I can see it in your eyes that you know something we don't." asked Homura, eyeing his former teammate curiously.

"What do you want to know?" asked Sarutobi while puffing on his pipe.

"Well, where he came from would be a start and how he came by his bloodline and why we haven't heard of such a powerful bloodline before."

Sarutobi was quiet after that question. Hari had been truthful about him regarding his plight and wanted to help the young man start a new leaf here in the Leaf, no pun intended of course. If he wanted to help the boy, no man, then he needed to get the council on his side. Since honesty was crucial at this point in time, he decided to reveal what Hari told him. Besides, the boy already gave him permission to do so.

"Before I tell you everything I know about him, I want to state that the information will NOT leave this room. It is a SS-rank secret, punishable by death. Understood?" Sarutobi said seriously, emphasizing his point with a burst of KI.

After getting a nod from everyone in the room, he proceeded to tell everything he knew of Mahora Hari to the astonishment of the entire council. The effects were varied, ranging from awe to fear since they just found out that there's millions of such humans that possesses the same bloodline as the boy. Thankfully, the fear disappeared when Sarutobi told them that the doorway that linked their world to the other was sealed by Hari, never to be opened. It was a lie of course, but a necessary one.

When Sarutobi was done with his tale, the room was very quiet, each council member in silence, digesting the revelation that they just heard.

"Why did you think he sealed the doorway, Sarutobi?" asked Danzo. He was inwardly afraid of the possibility of hundreds of these 'magicals' coming to Konoha and laying waste to the country side.

"According to Hari, the doorway on his side of the world was relatively sealed and hidden from everyone, making sure that our world stayed separate from theirs. Upon arriving here in our world, he immediately sealed this side of the doorway to prevent anyone from coming and only he can unseal it if necessary." said Sarutobi, another lie to reinforce the truth. "He didn't want his kind to destroy his chance of a new life. He wanted to get away from everything, which I quite agree with him. His life has never been pleasant, much worse than what a shinobi had to go through."

Everyone nodded in agreement. A boy forced into a war that he didn't need; losing friends and families, winning in the end despite the odds, but ostracized instead of being labeled as a hero. It was saddening.

"Is he going to join the shinobi ranks?" asked Shibi in his usual monotone.

"I'm not really sure." answered Sarutobi. "He told me that he was thinking about it and would put the decision on hold until he learns everything there is to know about shinobis. Despite the abilities he possesses, shinobi is a whole new lifestyle for one of his kind."

Everyone nodded.

"He seemed to enjoy spending time in the hospital, maybe we can ask him to put his skills there to good use." said Tsume since she saw first-hand what the boy was capable of. Everyone nodded vigorously at the idea.

"That is his decision though I have a few suggestions in mind if you're all open to it." said Sarutobi, catching everyone attention. _"Hook line and sinker."_ He thought with a mental grin.

* * *

Hari returned to the council chamber after one of the ANBUs informed him that the council has reached a decision concerning his petition.

After pleasantries have been exchange, the Hokage, elected as the voice of the council, started things off.

"Mahora Hari, it is a pleasure of the council to inform you that your request to start a clan here in Konoha is granted with our blessing. However, there are some questions and conditions that needed to be answered. Are you willing to hear them out?"

Hari nodded, waiting for the Hokage to continue.

"Good, concerning your…bloodline, will it be passed on to your sons or daughters?" asked Sarutobi as he read through the list of questions and conditions the council wrote down for him.

"That is a yes and a no. Judging from what I learned of my bloodline, it depends on genetics and luck. My father was a pureblood Mahora while my mother is not though she has the ability. As a result, I gained the ability to access the bloodline." answered Hari, spinning a few of the facts to fit this world's concept of a bloodline and magic. "However, considering the amount of magic I have in my system, I would say that there is a good possibility that those I sire would possess the same abilities I do given the fact that I train them in their use."

"Excellent. You see, in order to be a clan with a bloodline, the Konoha charter states that a clan status may only be given if the bloodline can be passed on."

Hari nodded in agreement, understanding this since the Hokage already asked him this question before but asked it again for the sake of the council. He waited for the next question.

"You mentioned to me before that there is a possibility of some people having similar abilities you have. If such a person does exist, are you willing to teach that person?"

"I will, Hokage-sama, on the stipulation that they will become a part of my clan since what I will be teaching them can be considered as a clan secret."

Sarutobi nodded in agreement mimicked by the rest of the council. Clan secret was a heavy thing after all. "I won't have it any other way."

"Do you have the necessary financial resources to start your clan?"

Ready with this line of questioning, Hari pulled out his account statement and cast a Gemino charm to create multiple copies. He levitated the copies to the council. It was safe to say that they were shocked when they saw the money he had at his disposal.

"I guess that answers that question. Damn, I haven't seen that much zeros in my entire life." exclaimed Tsume as she eyed the paper in her hands.

"I had the same reaction as well, Tsume-sama." Hari said with a chuckle.

"I don't doubt that…Hari-dono." Tsume said with a grin. Her respectful address towards his name shocked Hari before giving the feral woman a smile which she returned.

"Since all seems to be in order, it is to my happiness that the Mahora Clan is now active in Konohagakure no Sato with Mahora Hari as its head. Congratulations, Hari."

Hari bowed to the council who returned it. "Thank you, honorable council. You spoke of conditions?"

"Indeed. The Mahora Clan is now a part of the Konoha rosters, however, there are some conditions to be met before you are given the privilege a clan deserves, are you ready to listen to them?"

Hari nodded.

"First, before you take your seat here in the Konoha Council as mandated by the Konoha Charter, you are required to study the law of the land and how the village is run, from military to economics. You will be provided the necessary materials to make this happen. You will be tested by Nara Shikaku to see to your proficiency. Is this condition acceptable?"

"Acceptable and agreed upon, Hokage-sama." Hari said with a nod since he already made plans to study the laws of his new home.

"Second, you will given a tutor to teach you the basics of the shinobi art and see if it is compatible to your bloodline."

"Agreed but with stipulations, Hokage-sama. I want to make sure that it is properly scheduled since I will be undergoing my own study in the nature of chakra. I noticed a positive reaction of my magic to the ambient chakra surrounding my home and I want to find out everything I can to avoid problems in the future."

Everyone nodded in agreement since they wanted to avoid trouble, especially concerning such a powerful bloodline.

"Will you share these findingss to the council to be added to the Konoha Archive?"

"Yes. It is to the benefit of the village after all though I will withhold information that would give people in-depth secrets to the various abilities of my bloodline outside of the clan."

Sarutobi looked at the rest of the council to see their reaction. Everyone nodded, making him inwardly sigh in relief. One hurdle down and more to go.

"Agreed. Next, you will have to choose a profession that would help the village. You already mentioned that you planned to make your potions available, controlled of course, but the council has decided that it would be a good idea to choose a profession instead of focusing your life as a shopkeeper."

Hari nodded since he already talked this out with the Hokage. "Agreed, Hokage-sama. I would be glad to spend two days, four hours a day, in the hospital to help using my bloodline. In the future, it is quite possible that I would join the shinobi ranks though that is still being deliberated."

Everyone in the council sighed in relief when they heard that, making Hari inwardly chuckle.

"Agreed. If you do decide to become a shinobi of Konoha, you will be tested to determine your exact rank. Keep in mind that the abilities of your bloodline will not be the only basis of your rank. You need to be more than capable in the shinobi arts to become a shinobi of the village."

Hari nodded in agreement since he was already excited to learn the shinobi arts. Getting a tutor with the blessing of the council was an opportunity that he wouldn't want to pass out on. "I understand. I look forward to learning the shinobi arts with the aid of the tutor you will be assigning me."

"All conditions are mentioned and accounted for. Any questions?" Hari and the rest of the council shook their heads in negative. "If that is the case then I would like to welcome the Mahora Clan into our ranks. Congratulations."

Hari could only beam in happiness. His place in his new home was now secure.

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**End of Chapter 2. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter. I can upload all of them at once (currently 7 chapters) but I want to space it out a bit and take time with editing. Enjoy.  
**

**Please leave a comment or a review after you read. Thanks.  
**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto  
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**Chapter 3: Konoha 101**

It has been a year since the Mahora Clan had been set up with the blessing of the Konoha council, a year of intense study for the first head of the clan, Mahora Hari, in order to cement his position in the village.

Thanks to the resources offered by the Hokage, Hari plowed through the many books he was given, including the Konoha charter, as he studied various subjects concerning the village; from the running of the village to the different responsibilities of shinobis in and outside missions.

If he was honest with himself, Hari enjoyed the chore since for the first time in his life; he wasn't forced to learn because of a prophecy. He just learned because he wanted to and it was a welcome experience.

If he was not in the hospital helping the doctors and nurses with their patients, he was either at home brewing potions or taking care of the greenhouse that contained many of the magical plants he used for his potions business, which was very lucrative. Instead of putting up a shop in the village, he consigned his potions to the hospital with the Hokage providing a department which Hari was given the head position. He trained a few doctors and nurses on the various potions he had on stock and allowed it to be sold to the public.

However, in order to control the use of the potions, a log was made to make sure it wasn't overused or sold in excess and stringent methods were in place to make sure that they don't leave the confines of the village without the Hokage or Hari's express permission. He didn't want the potions to be used by other villages without their respective permissions. It was safer that way and would give Konoha the monopoly it sorely needed.

Since the potions weren't released outside the village, they simply advertised it to the outside that Konoha had a unique treatment method for various health related problems. It was a week later after the word was spread out that Konoha hospital saw to their first batch of patients, around twenty of them in fact. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses were thoroughly briefed so Hari didn't have to see to all of them, only the ones that needed his…personal touch.

Speaking of potions, he also donated a few batches of certain potions to the different departments in the shinobi ranks.

For starters, he gave Ibiki and Anko a batch of _Vertiserum_ placed inside a charmed box that only the two, Hari, and the Hokage could open as a security feature.

He also gave some potions to ANBU that would be a big help on high-profile missions, like _Polyjuice_ for a perfect disguise, _Pepper-Up_ (since Hari discovered that it can replenish chakra fully without side-effects), healing potions, and the likes.

Of course, the Hokage would have to give his permission to use these _unique_ supplies to avoid the possibility of his subordinates becoming too dependent on them. It was made available for use only on extreme circumstances and still use them as a last resort if their abilities were found lacking.

In regards to the laws of Konoha, Hari already passed his proficiency test given to him by Nara Shikaku who supervised his education in the subject. In just a span of six months with a lot of thanks to his Occlumency training, he plowed through the various laws with ease and answered the questions in similar manner.

After 7 months, he took his position as a clan head and a member of the Konoha Council, which Hari found out to be quite boring but he persevered since his attendance was mandatory.

At the prompting of the Hokage, Hari also checked the various students in the Konoha Academy to see if they had the ability to use magic. So far, the test had proven negative though there were some interesting discoveries that made it worthwhile.

For example, even if the students or shinobis didn't have magic in their system to merit the use of spells or magical objects, Hari discovered that chakra was of similar make that some magical disciplined would benefit the practitioner greatly.

One such discipline was Mind Magics which Hari discovered was similar to the techniques used exclusively by the Yamanaka Clan which resulted in Hari giving them some books on Occlumency to allow them to focus their bloodline properly and erect mental shields to protect their own minds while scanning others. Legilimency was out of their league since they didn't have active magic to do passive or active mind probes. Inoichi gratefully accepted the gifts and promised Hari that he would be making Occlumency a standard practice of their clan from now on (after mastering it himself, of course).

Due to the discipline's capability to improve one's focus, he made the book available to the rest of the shinobi population, though he omitted a few information that he deemed dangerous. Everyone was happy, especially the experienced shinobis since the discipline made it easy for them to use jutsus and improved their chakra control exponentially.

The Konoha council was even contemplating in adding a subject to their Academy curriculum to include Occlumency training to improve the student's learning curve. So far, they were still studying the idea since they wanted to make sure that it would help the village and not destroy it from the inside.

Hari's lessons in the shinobi arts was going well thanks to his part-time tutor, Umino Iruka - an instructor in the Academy, giving him lessons during the weekends within the threshold of his clan compound. After a brief mind probe, Hari found the Academy instructor a kind-hearted person bearing no ill-will to himself so he added him to the wards with an open invitation to visit anytime.

Iruka thanked him profusely since the Chuunin found a liking to Hari's western cuisine (which Hari relayed to the elves much to the little blithers pleasure).

In the shinobi arts, Iruka helped Hari unlock his chakra which was quite easy considering that the wizard had complete control of his mind, body, and magic. Hari discovered that chakra was exactly a counterpart of magic in this world though with certain limitations and differences.

For example, chakra was a combination of physical and mental (spiritual energy). Magic on the other hand was purely from the soul using the body as a conduit. From his studies, chakra had certain characteristics that magic could not replicate.

For starters, magic had the ability to prolong one's lifespan by keeping their health at peak efficiency. Chakra also offers the same effect though at a milder rate.

Also, chakra could be manipulated to boost a body's physical performance which magic could not do without the use of spells to merit such an effect.

After unlocking his chakra, Hari immediately took advantage of his free time to control it using chakra control exercises. He wasn't interested in learning jutsus since he was well-versed in battle magic (which he immediately took to learning since he wanted to be on par to shinobis in case something bad happened that needed his expertise, especially if he joined the shinobi ranks).

The wizard-slash-shinobi-in-training found walking on trees and water to be an invigorating. He was also introduced to the resident taijutsu (hand-to-hand combat) expert, Maito Gai to help train his body to use chakra, as well as improving his overall physical performance focusing on speed and strength that the man considered as a must-have for any shinobis.

After a year of training, Hari was easily Chuunin level in terms of both speed and strength, and growing as he continued training. He found the daily training program to be relaxing, though sweaty, so he had no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

Hari's study in magic was also growing in leaps and bounds similar to his growing skill in the shinobi arts.

Due to his work in the hospital, Hari practically ransacked his library in Potter Manor of any medical texts he could find. He even gave the elves the leeway of scouring the magical world back in Britain on similar books.

After two months of his elves' tireless work, he could safely say that he had the largest collection of medical texts in the history of the magical world. He learned a lot of healing and diagnostic spells from these books and partnered it with some anatomy lessons he had from the many doctors in the Konoha Hospital who were more than happy to help him out since it would greatly help in the long run. Shinobi life was dangerous work so they needed all the help they could get.

After half a year of study and taking an exam in the hospital, he became a Healer of Konohagakure no Sato since he couldn't be called a medic-nin since he wasn't a shinobi to begin with. Many of the doctors and shinobi likened his skills on par with Tsunade of the Sannin, the Slug Princess, whose medical prowess was renowned throughout the Elemental Nations. Hari read about Tsunade in the many books Shikaku gave him and preened himself for being compared to such a historical and talented figure (he made a special point to ignore the fact that Tsunade was a chronic gambler who never won a game in her entire life).

Hari also started improving his proficiency in battle magic though he made a special point in learning elemental spells to fit his status as a resident of the Elemental Nations. He found out that he had an affinity towards lighting spells, allowing him to cast the most complicated lightning-based magic without the use of his wands. He took to learning these spells like a fish to water and even came up with unique lightning-based attacks by combining his chakra and magic which had more powerful and destructive results.

As a favor to the Hokage, Hari was also given the task of studying the tailed-beasts of the Elemental Nations. At first, he was of pure disbelief in the existence of such powerful beings but when the Hokage told him the history of such beasts, he became a believer.

After explaining the Kyuubi attack that happened 8 years ago, Hari accepted the request of studying bijuus and their jinchuurikis. Having access to the Hokage's Library, Hari found out that bijuus who were inside their containers were similar to Horcrux (which made him shudder when he made the connection).

However, the similarities ended there.

From what he learned, jinchuurikis had the ability to tap into the power of the bijuus they hold and use it as their own, with limitations since human weren't designed to handle such power to begin with.

In most cases, Hari likened it to a symbiotic relationship. The bijuus continued to live safely inside their containers, ensuring that no power hungry fool would use their powers and the jinchuuriki using a portion of their power as payment. For the most part, the bijuus would fight with their jinchuuriki inside their mind for domination but seals were in place to ensure that possession wasn't possible. This was made evident when the Hokage informed Hari of Kumo's two jinchuurikis who had complete control over their bijuus.

The only exception to this rule was the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki of Suna who was a murdering sycophant despite being a child.

Hari didn't know why the Hokage made him study the bijuus and jinchuurikis but it was all made clear when he was called to a private meeting with the elders in the Hokage's office.

"So let me get this straight, Konoha currently has a jinchuuriki and it is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?" Hari asked incredulously. He was currently wearing an outfit similar to the Hyuugas _(AN: Hari is wearing an outfit similar to Neji's in the Shippuden Arc though only in blue instead of white)_

The Hokage nodded. "You're correct, Hari. I think I don't need to explain the complexities of jinchuurikis and bijuus since I asked you to study about them?"

Hari nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama. However, why tell me this now?" he asked curiously.

"You see, Uzumaki Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Sarutobi blurted out with a straight face.

"Whoah? You mean that blonde kid with whisker-like marks on his cheeks, wearing orange, and love to prank people?" Hari asked incredulously.

The side of the Hokage's mouth twitched, the two elders scowled, and Danzo was still as blank-faced as ever.

"That's the one. How did you know him?" asked Sarutobi curiously.

"Well, I was walking around the village when he came out of a store as if the hounds of hell were after him. I laughed myself hoarse when I saw the people inside the store in color orange. That kid is a great prankster," said Hari with a chuckle before frowning. "Is the Kyuubi the reason why many of the villagers kept glaring at him?"

Sarutobi nodded sadly. "Despite how the Yondaime Hokage wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero for holding the Kyuubi, some of the villagers think of him as the bijuu he is holding, which is why I asked you to study jinchuurikis for a favor."

"So what do you need?"

"Is there a way to determine if the Kyuubi can influence Naruto? I trust the Yondaime's seal but I wonder if it is possible to use one of your…spells to determine if it has an active influence on the boy or not in order to change the civilian council's mind about the boy."

"Hmmmm. That is a tall order. From what I can determine, a jinchuuriki can communicate with their bijuu via mindscape. If that is the case, I can easily do a mind probe to determine if it is trying to possess the boy or not. However, I can only do that if Naruto is directly in contact with the beast. If not then it is a premature move. Tell me; ever since Kyuubi was sealed inside the boy, has there been any occurrence that gives evidence to the bijuu being active?"

This time, Danzo answered. "No. Ever since the sealing, there were no signs of the Kyuubi being active since the use of its chakra would announce its presence to every shinobi in the village. However, it was discovered that Naruto gained some abilities from the bijuu he holds in his stomach."

"Oh? What abilities?" Hari asked curiously.

"Regeneration." Danzo answered immediately. "Wounds that would take weeks to heal only take a few hours for the boy. Aside from that, the boy has increased stamina and an overly large chakra reserves."

Hari winced. Chakra was a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. If Naruto had large chakra amounts for his age then his stamina must be through the roof. "Ouch, no wonder the boy is always on the run. With stamina like that, keeping still would be a chore. If he ever became a shinobi then chakra control would be one of his biggest hurdles."

"Agreed," Sarutobi said with a nod before voicing out his question. "So as of now, there is nothing you can do to determine Kyuubi's activity inside Naruto unless the boy came in contact with the beast?"

"For now." Hari said with a nod of agreement. "Don't worry; I'll try to find a way to determine it without rousing suspicion. As far as I can tell, it is similar to a spirit possession in my world. I can discretely hit the boy with a spell if I ever come across him and see if there is an active possession from the bijuu. I will report whatever findings I have as soon as I have it."

"Perfect. Thanks for doing this for us Hari-kun." said Sarutobi with a grateful smile. "Anyway, how are your shinobi studies coming along?"

Hari grinned. "Doing well if I do say so myself. I have mastered my chakra similar to how I control my _bloodline_. I can do tree walking and water walking with ease and I can keep it up for hours without problem. I haven't learned any shinobi techniques as of yet except for using chakra to enhance my strength and speed. However, I am compensating the lack of jutsus with battle magic. In fact, I find that I am quite adept in using lightning-based attacks." He boasted with a grin on his face.

"Oh? Who's teaching you to use chakra physically?" Homura asked curiously. Interested in how an teenager could learn the shinobi arts with such ease. He knew that the boy was capable, he just didn't know how much.

"Maito Gai." Hari answered making everyone wince. "What? He's not that bad."

"You're not serious, Hari." Koharu said with aghast before shuddering when he remembered the spandex-clad Jounin. "I don't know how you can stand his…quirks."

Hari shrugged. "Well, all I can say that he is…unique. I just ignore his quirks and leave it at that. I just ignore him when he starts prattling about his 'Springtime of Youth'."

Sarutobi gave him a long look before nodding at him in respect. Anyone who can stand Maito Gai and his…quirks had his respect.

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Hari was currently in the Hyuuga compound after getting an emergency message from Hiashi. When he got there, the Hyuuga clan head immediately cornered him and asking if he could help his wife.

From what he discovered, Hiashi's wife, Hitomi, just gave birth to his second daughter, Hanabi, and her health was deteriorating at a rapid pace and none of the Hyuuga medics could help her. This was the reason why he was immediately called to see if he could help her which he immediately agreed.

After Hari was brought into the room where Hitomi was currently residing, unconscious; he immediately cast a diagnostic spell on her to determine the status of her health. What he found was shocking to say the least.

"Hiashi-sama, did you know that your wife is currently suffering from a potent poison that is slowly killing her?" Hari asked the Hyuuga clan head.

"WHAT? HOW?" Hiashi shouted with anger clearly etched on his face.

"I don't know _how_ but from what my spells found out, poison is currently destroying her body from the inside, shutting down the major organs. If left untreated, she only has a day or so to live."

"Can you do anything to help her?" Hiashi asked desperately.

Hari nodded before reaching into his enchanted satchel that held all his medical supplies and pulled out a bottle containing his stock of _Bezoar_.

"This is what I call a _Bezoar_. It has the effect of neutralizing any poison in this side of the Elemental Nations. I know this for a fact since I saved quite a number of patients with this little thing." Hari informed him before opening the bottle and pulling out a stone. He walked over to Hitomi and administered the _Bezoar_ orally, using a spell to help her swallow it. After a few minutes, he cast the same diagnostic spell and the result made him smile. Hiashi saw his smile immediately.

"What happened? Did it work?" a concerned Hiashi asked.

"It's working as we speak. From what I discovered, the _Bezoar_ is counteracting the poison. In an hour or two, it would be completely gone for her system. However, she needs to rest and I will give you a bunch of healing potions to administer to her for a week to counteract the damage the poison did to her body. Since she was poisoned, I suggest that you restrict access to this room. I'll place a ward around the room to make sure that anyone who intends to do her harm wouldn't be able to get past it. Do I have your permission to do so?"

"You have my permission and my thanks, Mahora-dono." Hiashi said with a bow of respect.

Hari patted the man on the shoulder. "Call me Hari or Mahora-san. There is no need for such formalities between friends, Hiashi-sama."

"Then I extend the same courtesy…Hari-san." Hiashi said with a smile.

"Great, not let me get to work to ensure Hitomi-san's safety." said Hari, bringing out his Holly wand before casting an intent-based ward with a minor repelling charm to make sure that anyone who intends to harm her wouldn't get past the boundary of the room. He knew that it would suffice since Hiashi would ensure that his wife was properly protected.

Before leaving, Hari made a special point to check on Hanabi to ensure that the poison wasn't also in the child's system and doing the same to a sleeping Hinata. Thankfully, the baby and Hiashi's eldest daughter was free from it which made both him and the Hyuuga clan head thankful.

It was three hours later that Hari left the Hyuuga compound with a smile on his face since he was happy that he saved a life and gained a friend in the process.

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Hari was finishing his shift in the hospital when a commotion at the front desk drew his attention.

An ANBU wearing a dog mask with silver hair was arguing with a nurse while carrying a bloodied boy in his arms. Hari immediately recognized the boy as Naruto and saw the numerous wounds the boy was having.

His blood boiled immediately.

"What in the world is going on here?" Hari demanded in a voice that brooked no nonsense.

"Mahora-sama. This ANBU here is making a commotion?" said the nurse who was eyeing Naruto with a look of disdain which Hari immediately saw and noted. It seemed that she was one of _those_ people who saw the boy as the Kyuubi he was holding.

"If you just do your job and treat Naruto then we won't be having this problem in the first place." the ANBU barked in anger.

Having seen enough, Hari took charge of the situation.

"Enough. Bickering now would not save the boy's life." Turning to the ANBU, "ANBU-san, follow me and I will treat Naruto personally." Getting a nod from the ANBU, Hari turned to the scowling nurse. "Kimiko-san, I suggest that you start thinking of your priorities. All healer and doctors made an oath to treat ALL patients, no matter their status. If you don't think that you can follow that oath I suggest you resign before I bring this to the Hokage. You have been warned." With a wave of his hand, he floated the injured Naruto out of the ANBU's hands which startled the man. "Follow me, ANBU-san."

Hari immediately went straight to his office where all his medical equipments were kept. The Hokage gave him his own treatment room, similar to an emergency ward, for treating patients with problems above those the resident doctors could fix. He walked there at a brisk pace with Naruto floating beside him. The ANBU followed without a sound.

When they arrived, Hari immediately levitated the boy towards the bed and conjured a note for the Hokage to come to his office immediately. He called Fawkes and sent the bird on his way with the note.

"What happened?" Hari asked the ANBU as he started casting diagnostic spells on the boy after vanishing the boy's clothes. The sight of the boy's mangled body made him furious, causing his magic to lash out angrily which started shaking the room and scaring the ANBU out of his wits. Thankfully, he was able to control his rampaging magic thanks to his Occlumency shields, dampening his emotions to the point that only a cold mask fell on his face.

"A mob cornered Naruto in one of the side alleys in the entertainment district and attacked him. I got there in time before one of the villagers was about to run him through with a sword. After making sure that the perpetrators were apprehended, I immediately scooped up Naruto and came here. You know the rest." the dog-masked ANBU reported wearily since he felt the power emanating from the man. Sure, he heard of the new Mahora Clan and its mysterious head but seeing the power first-hand was a scary sight.

Hari nodded as he floated a clipboard to him and had an enchanted pen write the result of the diagnostic spell he cast on the boy. Concussions, laceration, broken bones, internal bleeding, and some teeth missing, third-degree burns, and the list goes on making Hari grit his teeth in anger. What the villagers were doing was pointless. Blaming the boy for what his prisoner did to them in the past. It was unacceptable.

The Hokage appeared a few minutes later while Hari was healing Naruto's wounds, explaining all the while the result of his findings. It was 30 minutes later that the treatment was finished and Naruto was sleeping peacefully on the bed, fully healed without a single scar on his body.

"This has got to stop, Hokage-sama." Hari said with a sigh. "This is the third time I treated Naruto since the other doctors wouldn't even give him the time of day. This time, the results of the attack are much worse."

"I know." said the Hokage with a grim look on his face before his shoulder slumped in resignation. "No matter how much I try to convince the civilian council that Naruto is innocent of the bijuu's crime, they wouldn't listen. That is one of the reasons why I asked you to examine him to give testament to my claims."

Hari smiled at the aged leader. "You're in luck. After treating Naruto, I took advantage of the situation to check on the boy's physical and mental health. I easily determined the presence of the Kyuubi inside him BUT there is a very strong barrier separating him from the boy's mind. From the nature of the barrier, I can say that only Naruto could pass through it and the bijuu is safely behind it with no possibility of possessing the boy whatsoever."

Sarutobi sighed in relief followed by the dog-masked ANBU. "Is there a way to convince the council of your findings?"

"Hmmmm." Hari hummed, deep in thought. "I can always attest to it by giving them a Wizard's Oath since they know the repercussion of me lying with it active; other than that, nothing I can think of would do."

"Let me think about that for a few days. I will summon you to a council meeting if such an event is required. Are you alright with that?" Sarutobi asked with clear relief on his face.

"No problem, Hokage-sama." said Hari before frowning. "What will happen to Naruto?"

"The same as always."

That answer didn't sit well with Hari in the slightest.

"Is he living in an orphanage? Considering that he is still 10 years old. If my guess is correct, he should be attending the Academy now."

"No, the orphanage threw him out before you came to Konoha. I had him situated in one of the apartments I owned and he is the only resident there. To answer your other question, yes, Naruto is currently attending the Academy. In fact, it's his first year there right now."

"I see. Why isn't the boy adopted then? No 10 year old boy should live on his own." said Hari with a frown, memories of his life with the Dursleys coming to the forefront of his mind.

"There were multiple instances that the clans wanted to adopt Naruto but the civilian council kept getting in the way. Since Naruto is not a shinobi, he is currently under the control of the civilian heads. There is nothing I can do unless Naruto became a shinobi and until then, I can only try to protect him from afar." Sarutobi admitted making Hari nod, deep in thought. An idea crossed his mind that made him grin.

"I have a plan." said Hari with a mischievous grin on his face.

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**end of Chapter 3**

**Please leave a comment or a review. Thanks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Work was a bit boring today so I took the chance to edit the next chapter.  
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**I received a comment from a guest saying that I was an idiot in letting Hari/Harry give the steps to Occlumency to the shinobis. My reply to that is why not? Occlumency is strictly a magic-based discipline and the shinobis couldn't really use it to its full extent, except maybe to give them more focus and mental acuity. Besides, my Hari/Harry is not selfish and he really loves Konoha so why not make it stronger?  
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**Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys. Hope you like this next chapter.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.  
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**Chapter 4: Have Hari, Will Travel**

Hari's plan concerning Naruto was quite simple: keep him safe, keep him healthy, and don't let anyone know that he's the one doing it. Hari had no problems putting this plan into action since magic made it all possible with bells on. Magic was just cool that way.

While Naruto was currently sleeping off his close brush with death, Hari commandeered Dog into leading him to the boy's apartment to set up the necessary wards so the boy wouldn't have to worry about mobs attacking him in his own home. When he got there, he let lose a string of curses that would make a die-hard pirate blanch in fear. Dog even scurried away from the aura that Hari was emitting due to his bout of anger.

After regaining control of his rage-induced magic, Hari used the Elder Wand to set up an intent-based repelling ward so anyone who had a grudge against Naruto and planned to attack him in his own home would be repelled. He was tempted to put up battle wards to shock the whole lot of them but the Hokage pointed out that such a protection would cause the boy more trouble in the future, especially if the civilians brought it up to the council that the Kyuubi was protecting the boy with its 'demonic skills'.

To avoid such troubles, Hari had to modify the wards to have an effect similar to a Notice-Me-Not Charm tied to how it would repel attackers. Instead of pushing them away from the apartment complex, the ward would simply modify their memories or implant new ones making it so that they would remember something important and be on their merry way.

It was too simply and indirect for Hari's taste but it was necessary.

When the protections were properly activated and powered, Hari entered Naruto's home and couldn't help but grimace at the squalor the boy lived in. With a wave of his wand, he transfigured everything into acceptable furniture so the boy would be able to live in comfort. He made a mental note to inform the Hokage about that so the boy's questions regarding the change of the interior would be attributed to the aged leader's generosity and keeping his meddling a secret.

His next stop was the boy's wardrobe, charming the lot of them into portkeys designed to immediately teleport the boy back to his home when cornered by the mob. He made sure to link the enchantment to the boy's emotions so it would activate when the boy was under intense fear or panic and if his guards weren't around to bail him out.

Hari then checked out the kitchen and couldn't help but stare at the number of ramen cups the boy had in his cabinets.

It would seem that the boy's diet consisted of nothing but ramen, which was the reason why the boy was shorter than his peers. The boy practically lived and breathed ramen for god's sake. It definitely wasn't health and it showed.

He needed to talk to the Hokage about providing meals for the boy by assigning one of his elves to the task (besides, his kitchen staff was demanding more work from him that he couldn't provide). To remedy the situation and to make sure that the boy was eating healthy, he commandeered one of his elves to fill up the boy's kitchen with healthy food for a month and take the expense out from the Mahora clan budget.

He made a mental note to suggest to the Hokage to delegate someone to teach the boy to cook. If he could cook at 5 years old, then a 10 year old Naruto would have no problems unless he was lazy. To that effect, he added a few fire safety charms on the kitchen just in case the boy was destructive in the kitchen. It was best to be safe after all.

After doing some last minute checking, Hari praised to himself for a job well done. It might not be much but life for Naruto should make a turn for the better.

Nodding to Dog who was practically stunned at the various feats of magic he was doing, he disappeared from the room accompanied by a soft crack making Dog jump in surprise.

* * *

Apparating back to his office in the hospital, Hari informed the Hokage of everything he did before hammering out the boy's security details. Aside from the various ANBUs the aged leader assigned to watch over the boy, Hari decided to also assign one of his elves to the task of keeping an eye on the boy while remaining completely invisible. The Hokage approved of all the measures Hari took for Naruto but made sure to keep all of his assistance a secret.

Hari had no problems agreeing since he didn't want to be placed in the spotlight concerning the boy since that would nullify any help he could give him.

When the Hokage left his office, Hari stayed until Naruto woke up which didn't take long considering the boy's healing powers courtesy of the demon inside him. Using a passive mind probe, Hari breathed a sigh of relief since he didn't find any of the Kyuubi's influence since there was a possibility that the bijuu would try to contact the boy or vice versa (accidentally, of course) while unconscious.

* * *

It was a month after the recent attack on Naruto that Hari finally decided to travel since he wanted to see what the Elemental Nation had to offer. Besides, it was one of his dreams to travel the world when he was a kid but unable to do so since he had to leave Britain and the war with Voldemort practically made such plans an impossibility. Now, however, he had plenty of time to do so without any problems cropping up to put a damper on his plans.

He immediately went to the Hokage after making the necessary preparations for the trip.

"You want to travel?" asked Sarutobi with a raised eyebrow.

Hari nodded eagerly and placed the map he brought with him on the table. Sarutobi peered at the map and noted the inked route the boy planned to take, which would essential allow him to visit every single village and country in the continent, as well as those only reachable by boat.

"As you can see, Hokage-sama. I already have a plan in mind as to where I'm going. Supplies aren't a problem since I can easily buy those that I can't create on the spot and my travel trunk is already packed full of supplies and necessities." Hari assured him, patting his pocket and eager start his vacation.

"And what are you going to do about council meetings? You do know that you're a clan head, right? Your attendance is necessary." The Hokage pointed out.

Hari waved his hand dismissively. "I'll make sure that Fawkes will listen to your call if there's an emergency that requires my attention. Besides, there's nothing stopping me from coming back here if I'm needed. You already know I can create portkeys to anywhere as long as I know my destination. My portkey or Fawkes will get me here in no time."

Sarutobi nodded. It was a good plan and the Mahora clan head had the ability to do what he promised. After all, nothing was stopping him from using his magic to come back to the village when needed.

"How about your duties in the hospital?" he asked slyly, not wanting to give in. Sure, there was no problem allowing the boy to go on his vacation but what's the fun without a little argument to make him work for it.

"Aside from the extreme cases, the doctors and nurses there can handle everything. I already stocked up the hospital with a year's worth of potions and I don't think they would be running out anytime soon since I made it a rule to only use the potions if there's need. My secretary there can call Fawkes anytime if there's an emergency." Hari informed him with a smile.

"Ah yes, how is Nao-chan coming along?" asked Sarutobi. He assigned Nao, one of the accomplished nurses in the hospital, as an assistant-slash-secretary to Hari two months ago. It was a good idea too since the boy needed someone to organize his appointments, especially during emergencies. Mahora Hari was just that popular.

"Nao is a life-saver and thanks for sending her to me. Right now, the potion stock is keyed to her signature and only she can take it out of storage. She passed my training with flying colors and I left her some instruction for those rarer potions I placed inside storage." Hari declared with a grin. He knew that the old man was simply piling up excuses to talk him out of his trip. That won't be happening; not on his watch.

"From the looks of it, you didn't leave me any room to maneuver, Hari-kun." Sarutobi chided making the wizard chuckle.

"We've known each other for more than a year, old man. I already know how you think." Hari tapped his head. "It's your fault that you let a Nara teach me to plan ahead."

Sarutobi grumbled. "Cheeky brat." Sighing, he opened a drawer and pulled out a scroll. He unrolled it and signed his name at the end before stamping it with his seal. Double-checking to make sure that everything was in order, he rolled up the scroll and handed it to Hari. "That's your travel pass good for one year. I gave you something similar to a Sannin's travelling rights. Just show it to any village you plan to visit, you won't have any problems with custom or the guards. Keep in mind that I can only give you a year's pass; no more, no less."

Hari took the scroll eagerly and gave the Hokage a two-finger salute.

"Thanks a bunch, Hokage-sama. If you'll excuse me, the world awaits!" he declared before apparating out of the office with a loud crack.

* * *

Hari had been on the road for two months and he loved it. Now he knew why Dumbledore loved to travel so much since there were just so many things he could learn from different cultures. Aside from the usual bandits and the trips back to Konoha to tackle some affairs back home, his journey was relatively smooth and trouble-free.

His first stop was in Tanzaku Gai where he indulged himself in a week-long gambling spree since such an experience never crossed his life. He was forever curious about Las Vegas back in his old world and had always itched to give it a try.

It would seem that his luck was in play since he practically won almost all the games, from slot machines to poker, especially from a blonde woman with an overly large bust followed by a woman (Hari likened her as an assistant) carrying a pearl-wearing pig.

From the way she ranted after the poker game, he cleaned out her entire stash of cash without effort, making him chuckle in amusement.

The only drawback to his winning spree was getting kicked out and banned from some of the casinos and gambling dens in the town. Some sore losers even went to the point of sicking their bodyguards on him to steal back the money he won but he put them all down, either with a stunner or a blast of lightning.

When the word got out that he was not to be messed with, there were no more issues from the losers whatsoever.

His next stop was Otafuku Gai since it was pretty close, only needed an hour to get there without trouble. There was nothing really entertaining in Otafuku Gai but he did splurge a bit when some of the clothing shops put on sale high-quality kimonos that he immediately fell in love. The prices were just too cheap to ignore.

He made a lot of shopkeepers happy after his 3-day shopping trip.

He stayed for a week more since there was a festival going on and he hadn't experienced many of the games offered by the stalls so he wanted to try them out to see if he liked them or not. It was safe to say that he enjoyed it and won a lot of stuffed toys. He was now glad that he had shinobi training or hitting those moving targets would have been, to quote a certain Nara, troublesome.

It was also in Otafuku Gai that he experienced his first bathing experience in a hot spring which the city was famous for. Thankfully, he had the whole bath to himself so he thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. He had no problems sharing a bath since he practically spent six years doing so with his fellow Gryffindor boys. He had no problems displaying his bits or seeing others. He was just weird that way.

He liked the hot spring so much that he immediately called his elves to him and instructed them to make a hot spring in one of the many vacant corners in the Mahora clan compound. The elves promised to get it done even before he would return to Konoha, not that Hari minded since he didn't plan to return any time soon, in a year maybe.

Having exhausted all the avenues of fun and leisure in Fire Country, his next stop was Wind Country. Thankfully, he was fully equipped to deal with desert travel and he didn't get lost thanks to the ever useful Point-Me spell which pointed him to the right direction. He thanked whatever gods was listening for learning cooling charms to ward off the intense desert heat.

It was in Suna that he finally met the resident jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki. The boy was around Naruto's age, a child sporting red hair, bags around his eyes that it made him look like a raccoon (which Hari assumed would be a unique physical characteristic for holding the demon or the boy just lacked sleep to develop such intense eye bags), and the kanji of 'Love' above his eye.

Also, there was nothing ordinary about Sabaku no Gaara. If Naruto was hated by the villagers, the people of Suna feared the boy since it was quite common for Gaara to go on a killing spree without due cause. If Naruto ever snapped due the villager's treatment of him then he would become the second Gaara; a thought that made Hari shudder.

While he was enjoying the various sights to be enjoyed in Suna (aside from the occasional sand dunes that littered the place), he finally met Gaara while the boy was attacking some people who planned to murder him. Not that they talked face to face since Hari was somewhat invisible at that time.

Since he didn't want to get involved with the local police force and sparing the Hokage a headache due to interference, he deftly placed himself under a Notice-Me-Not charm and observed the boy from afar.

A spell later revealed that the seal that kept the bijuu inside the boy was very weak, lacking the barrier that separated the demon from its host.

Unlike Naruto's seal, the one on Gaara was tweaked to make sure that the demon had full access to the boy's mental faculties. Hari shivered at the potential disaster Gaara could do if the demon decided to unleash its full form.

When Hari saw Gaara display some abilities of the bijuu, mainly his manipulation of sand, he made a note on his travel journal for study later on since the books he read about jinchuuriki didn't elaborate on their capabilities and quirks. He wondered what other traits Naruto might have gained from holding the Kyuubi aside from healing and stamina.

He decided to research on that later but he knew it was premature since Naruto hadn't met his tenant yet.

* * *

Hari was annoyed, very annoyed. He visited a village in Rice Country to enjoy the scenery when the place was attacked by a dozen shinobis wearing forehead protectors with a sound note in the middle. He found out after a mind probe that the attackers were part of the Oto, the Hidden Village of Sound.

He wasn't planning to intervene and hightail it out of there but when the local orphanage was attacked, his saving-people-thing kicked in.

Before the shinobis could leave the orphanage with the children, he promptly stunned them and herded the children and their caretakers to safety. However, he was waylaid when a group of Oto shinobis blocked his path.

Hari immediately placed himself in between the attackers and their quarry with a scowl on his face.

"Look what he have here, boys. A pretty boy playing hero." said one of the shinobis with a sneer on his face. Hari noted that the man's sneer was nothing compared to Severus Snape.

"I'm no hero but I'm not going to stand by and let you take these children." declared Hari in a cold voice, channeling his magic to be prepared for any attack that might come his way.

"I suggest you step back brat or you're going to get yourself killed." said another shinobi before pausing, an evil grin appeared on his face. "Belay that, we'll kill you THEN take the kids back to Oto for our Lord to do as he wish."

"I don't think so." said Hari while gathering magic into his hands. He clapped his hand in front of him causing a wave of lighting to fly out towards the attacking shinobis who barely had enough time to jump out of the way.

"What jutsu was that?" shouted one of the shinobis in surprise, giving Hari a look of disbelief.

"That is for me to know and for you to never find out, creep." growled Hari before firing a bolt of lightning that hit the man on the chest and causing said man to scream in pain before falling to the ground, smoking and unconscious. The other shinobis were staring at their downed comrade before looking at Hari with fear and disbelief in their eyes.

"You're going to pay for that." one of the Sound shinobis growled before throwing a chakra-enchanced kunai.

Hari merely waved his hand, stopping the projectile, and hurling it back towards its thrower and embedding itself on the shoulder making the shinobi scream in pain.

"I think not, boya." said Hari before stunning the man, putting him down for the time being. He didn't bother to heal the wound since they were the enemies. Well, maybe later if he was in the mood.

Since talk was unnecessary and he was very annoyed that they had the audacity to attack innocents, he simply went full force on the cretins. Battle spells and lightning-based attacks started flying everywhere, not giving the enemy shinobis time to regroup or counterattack.

Five minutes later, the battle was over and the enemy shinobis were either unconscious or groaning in extreme pain after being subjected to many of Hari's lightning spells. Electrocution, after all, was pretty painful before succumbing to unconsciousness

Nodding to himself for a job well done, Hari turned to the people he protected and immediately blushed when he saw their adoring eyes aimed at him.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The female caretaker gushed out, bowing to their savior in happiness with the other caretakers doing the same. The kids just looked at their savior in happiness and awe "If you didn't help, these kids would have been taken by the Sound Village for their experiments."

"You don't have to thank me." asked Hari with a smile before he frowned when he realized what the woman just said. "What do you mean by experiments?"

"My village wasn't the only one attacked recently." The caretaker explained with the other nodding in agreement. "According to the survivors from the others towns that got attacked, the Sound Village is on a kidnapping spree for their leader to abduct as many people as possible; both children and adults, for their experiments."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Hari. This reminded him of Voldemort but without the magic. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." The caretaker nodded with fear in her eyes. "A close friend of mine survived the encounter by escaping through the woods, not stopping until he got to my village. He overheard some of the Sound shinobis talking about their lord wanting kids to experiment on...something about bloodlines."

"Damn it." Hari growled. He couldn't interfere if he wanted to. Despite being a powerful wizard, attacking a shinobi village alone was tantamount to suicide. "Do you have anywhere safe you can go?"

"No, we don't have anywhere else to go." The woman shook her head sadly, resigned on being homeless. Some of the kids cried when they heard that. Hari could feel the hopelessness emanating from the survivors.

"Hmm, do you know where Konoha is?" asked Hari, a plan already forming in his head.

"Uhh yes." the woman answered hesitantly.

"Good, I want you to go there with the rest of your group. Inform the guards at the gate that Mahora Hari sent you. Explain your situation to the Hokage. He'll help you out." said Hari before pulling out a bag of money. He immediately created another pouch and placed half of the amount to the new bag, which Hari estimated to be around 5,000,000 ryo notes, before handing it to the wide-eyed woman. "Here's some money to spend for the trip. Go east from here. There's a town there. Rest up for a day and buy supplies. When you're done, immediately go south to Konoha without stopping. If can hire some protection then do it. There's plenty of money in the pouch until you can get situated back to Konoha. Tell the Hokage to set you up in a new orphanage and to take the money from the Mahora account. Understood?"

The woman nodded and gave Hari a hug who immediately blushed at the sudden show of affection.

"Thank you so much for your generosity, Mahora-sama." The caretaker exclaimed while tightening the hug.

"Uhhh, no problem." said Hari, starting to get really uncomfortable for being hugged. "Just stay safe, alright? I'll make sure to hide your trail so you won't get pursued."

The caretaker let go and Hari herded her back to the ground and pointed them to the right direction. When they all left the area, Hari immediately stunned every single shinobi on the ground and piled them together. He grabbed a branch and turned it into a portkey before tossing it to the pile. The shinobis disappeared without a trace.

Maybe spending a day or so in the middle of the desert would give them time to set their priorities straight.

* * *

It was two months later that Hari finally got an urgent summons from the Hokage via Fawkes. He was currently lounging around the beach in Tea Country before making his way to Demon Country by ship in the morning.

Raising an eyebrow when he read the missive, the Hokage ordering him to come home immediately, making him sigh before drying himself with a quick charm. He apparated back to his hotel room and packed everything into his trunk before shrinking it and placing it inside his kimono outfit.

After that chore was done, he bid Fawkes to take him to the Hokage's office.

He appeared in front of the Hokage in a burst of fire and saw the aged leader currently scowling as he read a document in his hands.

"Something wrong, Hokage-sama?" Hari asked curiously since he never saw the aged leader this agitated before.

"Did you know what you just did?" the Hokage asked.

Confused, Hari didn't know what the Hokage was talking about.

"Uhhh No?" Hari half-asked, half-answered. "I was in Tea Country enjoying the beach before you summoned me home. What seems to be the problem?"

The Hokage didn't say anything but took out a small black book from his drawer and turned the pages before handing it to him.

Curious, Hari took the book and read the page. His eyebrows rose in disbelief.

**_Bingo Book entry 2189_**

**_Name: Mahora Hari_**

**_Age: Somewhere between 18-25_**

**_Affiliation: Konoha (?)_**

**_Rank: Unknown_**

**_Threat Level: A_**

**_Description: Long black hair, wears a pair of glasses, blue kimono, and a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Placed in the Bingo Book for assaulting a group of Oto shinobis using strange jutsus, especially seal-less lightning attacks. _**

**_Bounty: 15,000,000 ryo (Oto)_**

_**Condition: To be brought to Oto dead or alive.** _

"What in the world is this?" Hari shouted after reading.

"That, my dear Hari-kun, is a Bingo Book, where shinobis with bounties on their heads are placed for other shinobis to hunt for money. I would assume that your placement in there was due to your scuffle with the Oto-nins a few months back and saving an orphanage full of kids and their caretaker…whom by the way are asking for you since you practically saved them." said Sarutobi, adding the last part to drive his point home.

"Damn. Does this mean that I have to cut my trip short?" Hari asked, saddened that his vacation time was over. Sarutobi's eyebrow rose in disbelief.

"You're telling me that you're not afraid of being hunted?" the Hokage asked incredulously.

"Errr, no? I can easily escape if I needed to. I'm still wearing my portkey ring so all I need to do is activate it and I'm back in my study. I'm just sad that my vacation time was cut short. I already booked a ship to Demon Country in the morning too." Hari said forlornly.

"Why in the world are you going to do in Demon Country?" the aged leader asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's nothing there but mountains, rocks, and swamps."

Hari shrugged. "I heard from a fellow tourist I met in Tea that Demon Country hosts a lot of ruins and a shrine dedicated to a priestess who can see the future. I was curious about it, that's all." He admitted with a longing look on his face.

"Only you, Hari." said the Hokage while shaking his head before getting to the point. "Such is the case, you will have to forego your vacation and stay in the village until the hubbub dies down. This updated Bingo Book was issued a week ago and it would seem that the Oto leader is a bit desperate to bring you down."

Hari nodded before he remembered something he was meaning to ask the Hokage.

"Which reminds me, I never heard of an Oto village before. That's where the Sound shinobis came from right? Care to elaborate?"

"Yes, my spymaster sent me a message a few years back informing me that a new village has set up shop in Rice Country. Their location and numbers are unknown though he did inform me that they specialize in sound-based techniques."

"Sound, huh?" mused Hari. "Interesting choice considering that sound is invisible and would be effective as a shinobi weapon if they know how to do it right. So, when do you think I can return to my vacation?"

Sarutobi sighed when he saw the hopeful expression on the young wizard's face.

"If you can assure me that you're safe then you can go back to…what it is you were doing."

"Don't worry about me, old man." Hari assured him with a grin. "I'll keep myself safe no problem. To set your mind at ease, I promise to return home after Demon Country. I can always plan for another trip in the future if nothing exciting happens. Speaking of which, I think we need to talk about me joining Konoha ranks officially and not simply as a capacity of a medic-nin. To be honest, fighting those Sound shinobis sparked something in me. I don't know why but I crave adventure all of a sudden."

"You consider shinobi life as an adventure?" The Hokage deadpanned. "I don't know if you're brave or suicidal. Shinobi life is hardly an adventure."

This made Hari grin.

"Maybe both." He admitted before giving the Hokage a bow. "See you later old man, Demon Country awaits. Let's go, Fawkes."

Fawkes, who was currently settled on Hari's shoulder, gave a happy thrill before whisking his master away in a burst of fire to continue the next leg of their vacation.

Sarutobi sighed before pulling out a shinobi registration form from a folder and filling it out with Hari's information. It was time to draft him into the rank.

The question, however, was where to put him?

* * *

Naruto was currently at a loss. Strange things had been happening to him as of late and he couldn't explain it.

First, he disappeared back to his apartment after being cornered by a mob carrying a lot of pointy weapons. He didn't know how…he just did.

It was mind-boggling.

Second, all the ramen cups he purchased were being replaced by food that he wanted but couldn't buy in the market since the shopkeepers would either throw him out or overcharge their items. He even saw his beloved cup noodles disappear in front of his very eyes to be replaced by a packet of read-to-eat crab sticks.

It was bizarre.

Third, a delicious meal would always appear on his table and he was sure that no one could get into his home since he kept it locked. Even when he already prepared a ramen cup for a meal and ready to eat; said ramen cup would just disappear and replaced with a scrumptious plate of a complete breakfast.

It was scary.

Last, but certainly not the least, there were no attacks today despite being his birthday. He was ALWAYS attacked in his home during his birthday. Why the sudden change? He was up all night waiting for the first batch of the villager to break down his door and beat the hell out of him. He was up until morning and no mobs in sight.

It was strange.

He sighed before digging out the last cup of ramen he hid in the bathroom since every time he placed them inside the cabinet, they would just disappear and replaced by other food items. He stayed in the bathroom and used a hidden thermos of hot water to cook it. He waited for 5 minutes then prepared himself to eat the noodle-y goodness that was ramen.

However, before he could even stick his chopstick into the cup, it disappeared and a plate of healthy food appeared on top of the sink in front of him.

His scream echoed throughout the village making the ANBU guarding him to go crazy and the Hokage who recognized the scream to laugh himself silly.

* * *

As promised, Hari returned to Konoha after his 2-week stay in Demon Country. Unlike Fire Country where there were a lot of trees to go around, Demon Country had lots of rocks to go around. It was boring but the number of ruins he found was breathtaking and the visit to the priestess' shrine left him in awe since the place was simply beautiful.

Upon returning to Konoha, he spent a day to relax before going back to his usual routine.

Waking up early in the morning the next day, he visited Nao in the hospital to check on the potion stock and to see if he needed to brew more. Thankfully, Nao was quite adamant in following his boss' orders so not all the doctors and nurses were able to make use of the potions for a simple treatment. Hari wasn't begrudging them of his elixirs but it wasn't a good idea for the doctors to be complacent. They needed to practice their skills or they wouldn't be at peak efficiency in dealing with their patients.

Hari made a special point to give his secretary a raise on the next hospital budget meeting. She was just too good for basic salary.

After getting the list of potions used and who used them from Nao, he went to ANBU headquarters to check on Ibiki to log the stock of _Veritaserum_ he gave them before he left on his vacation. Fortunately, he arrived just in time before Ibiki could send a request for more of the popular interrogation medium. He signed the receipt form from a happy interrogator and promised the man that he would be delivering a fresh stock via Fawkes later that day since he still had a lot of _Veritaserum_ in stock back at home.

The last stop for the day was the Hokage's office where he discussed his plan of joining the shinobi corps. Considering that he didn't go through the Academy though he already knew what a Genin and Chuunin should know about being a shinobi, the Hokage decided to give him a test, so to speak. His actions during the test would determine his rank.

Hari couldn't help but be excited over the whole thing and promised to prepare since his exam would be in two days. He couldn't wait.

* * *

Hari was bored. The Hokage gave him three tests in order to determine his rank.

The reason for the boredom was the first test…a written exam where his knowledge would be tested. After getting the test paper from a smirking Chuunin, he was told that he needed to answer everything in one hour or else he would fail.

Annoyed at being underestimated, Hari simply pulled out his wand, not taking his eyes from the Chuunin, and tapped the paper while willing his magic towards it.

In a span of a minute, all the questions were answered. The non-verbal spell was from Dumbledore's collection which the old coot invented to simplify his paperwork during his tenure as Hogwarts Headmaster. It would fill out any form as long as the knowledge was present in the caster's mind. No need to sprain his hand writing down the answers. Magic was just great that way.

Double checking his answers and satisfied that everything was correct, he leaned back in his chair and placed his foot on the desk, a relaxed look on his face. He couldn't help but give the examiner a smug look and spent the next 57 minutes taking a nap.

* * *

Hari was staring at the large iron-fence that marked off the boundary of Training Ground 44 or lovingly called the Forest of Death by the local shinobi residents. He knew of the forest's reputation since he was practically its neighbor and only his wards were stopping the creatures there from invading his compound.

His next task was to traverse the forest, find the Chuunin holding the scroll he needed to pass, take the scroll, and make his way to the tower located in the very heart of the Forest of Death. He had five days to make it to the tower with the scroll to pass this portion of the exam.

Deciding to do this task the shinobi way, he entered the forest and slowly used the skills he learned from his tutor to search out the target who was holding the key to passing the exam. He enjoyed the hide-and-seek at first but when the predators of the forest started coming out in droves, he was getting annoyed.

After putting down the fifth batch of tigers on steroids who intended to turn him into a _Hari-ala-king _for lunch, he pulled out the Elder Wand, raised it over his head, and growled.

"_**ACCIO SHINOBI WHO IS HOLDING MY SCROLL!"**_

Due to the amount of magic he poured into the spell, as well as the satisfaction of the Deathly Hallow to help its master, the shinobi who was holding the scroll came zooming into his location with a look of shock on his face. Hari immediately stunned the man before he could even come within range, dropping him to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings.

A minute later, he was the proud owner of an exam scroll after pilfering the Chuunin's many pockets.

Before leaving, he decided to prank the man by changing his shinobi outfit into a pink tutu, lengthened his hair before turning it blonde. He took a picture and made his way to the tower.

Hari made his way to the tower in a record-breaking time of three hours after retrieving the scroll using his wand to point him to the right direction and the judicious use of the Treetop Highway of the forest - meaning, he used the branches to make sure that he's didn't get to meet the overly large tigers who developed a healthy grudge on him.

It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be since the aerial treetop highway was also riddled with oversized birds that wanted meat for breakfast. Not wanting to play around, Hari simply surrounded himself in an overpowered Protego shield and barreled through the flying denizens of the forest until he got to his intended location.

* * *

When he got to the tower and surrendering the scroll to the Chuunin who was waiting for him, he was directed to the inner sanctum for the last phase of his exam. He found himself in an arena of sorts.

"Congratulations in making it this far, Hari-kun." said Sarutobi with a grin on his face. He saw what the boy did in the first two exams through his crystal ball and laughed himself silly when he saw the Chuunin turned into a ballerina that Albus once described to him after reading it in a book. He made a mental note to send Hari a gift later for making him laugh so hard. "You're last exam is to fight against a Jounin. You don't have to win. All you need to do is to display the skills you have at your disposal and survive for the next ten minutes. Your rank will be judged after the fight. Are you ready?"

Hari nodded with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Ready and waiting, Hokage-sama. Who's going to be my opponent?" he asked curiously.

"Your opponent will be Sarutobi Asuma, my son and a Jounin of this village." The Hokage informed him.

As if on cue, Sarutobi Asuma appeared in the middle of the stage with his trademark cigarette on his lips.

"So pops want me to test you eh?" he asked as he eyed his opponent with a speculative look on his face.

"Seems like it." Hari said with a nod. "You do know that smoking kills, right?"

"Meh…smoking _kills_ civilians except shinobis. I coat my lungs in chakra to make sure that none of the harmful stuff sticks to my lungs. Why do you think my dad is still alive considering that he's been smoking longer than I have?" explained Asuma with a grin.

"Oh!" said Hari, comprehension dawning on his face. "Now that's something you don't learn every day. Tricky old monkey, isn't he?"

"That he is. Are you ready now, Hari-_chan_?" said Asuma before getting into his taijutsu stance, smirking all the while.

"Ready and waiting, Asuma-_kun_." replied Hari with a grin, getting into his own stance, the defensive form of the Tai Chi style he learned from a book he brought with him from Britain. Thanks to Gai's coaching, he was able to master the style with a few additions of his own design to suit his needs.

A shout of 'Hajime' from the Hokage got the ball rolling.

Asuma charged his opponent and delivered a right hook that Hari easily parried with a sweep of his right hand while his left was already heading towards the Jounin's sternum in a traditional palm strike. However, Asuma was a Jounin for a reason.

Using his quick reflexes and experience he gained from training and from the battlefield, Asuma spun to the side, dodging the attack and used his momentum to launch a backhand blow with his free left that would have hit Hari's cheek if he didn't crouch in time before launching a shoulder slam on Asuma's back that threw the Jounin who was able to recover quickly from the blow and went on the defensive.

Wanting to make the most out of this fight even if he was slated to lose, Hari attacked Asuma with the Tai Chi's continuous strike consisting of palm strikes, jabs, knife-hand thrusts, and punches at high speed, not giving the experienced Jounin a chance to counter. However, he made a mistake of overextending a punch that the Sarutobi heir caught and capitalized on. Asuma grabbed the extended hand before flipping Hari over his shoulder and throwing him away.

Thankfully, Hari was able to catch himself in midair and apparated a few meters behind the man to catch his breath. Despite training himself physically every day, using your skills in a fight was a whole new ball game. He vowed to indulge in various sparring exercises with Iruka in order to get used to continuous fighting.

Asuma grinned when he saw his opponent correct himself with that disappearing trick of his. He knew that it wasn't Shunshin nor was it any form of shinobi speed. It was pure teleportation that was only possible because of Hari's unique bloodline that his father told him about. Flipping through a series of hand seals while amassing a huge amount of wind chakra to his hands, he threw it out, palm forward, and shouted his attack.

"_**Fuuton: Great Breakthrough." **_shouted Asuma as he thrust his hands forward, palms facing Hari and expelling the wind chakra he gathered for the techniques. A huge gust of wind exited Asuma's palm and barreled towards Hari who saw the attack coming since the wind was so thick that it had a somewhat hazy appearance. Considering that he didn't know any defensive jutsus, Hari decided to resort to magic to even the playing field a bit.

"_**Protego Maxima!" **_ Hari shouted, creating a magical dome of pure defensive magic. Asuma's wind jutsu hit the magical barrier to no effect with Hari protected from the wind blast. When Hari saw the attack disperse, he smirked before deactivated the spell. "If that's how you want to play then who am I to disappoint?" the Mahora clan head taunted with a cheeky grin before pointing his finger towards his opponent and calling out his favorite spell.

"_**Fulgur Affulgeo!" **_A beam of pure lightning erupted from Hari's finger towards Asuma who stared at it disbelievingly. Seal-less jutsus were rare, but seal-less elemental jutsus were even rarer.

A bit desperate and not wanting to get hit by such a condensed attack, Asuma spedthrough a set of seals for the only defensive technique in his arsenal.

"_**Fuuton: Kaze no Tate!" **_Asuma shouted before a dome of rotating wind surrounded him. The lightning spell hit the wind shield and both fought for dominance. Fortunately for Asuma, lightning was weak against wind so Hari's attack dissipated without dealing him any damage. "You need to do better than that, Hari-kun." Asuma taunted but immediately regretted it when he saw the mischievous glint in the boy's eyes.

Hari decided to let his inner Marauder come out to play, in other words, being dramatic so he spread his arms wide and conjured a dozen spears out of nothing but air and let it float around him.

Asuma eyed the floating pointy objects of doom floating around his opponent with one thought in mind. _"Oh shit" _he cursed his big mouth.

"Oh I will, Asuma-kun. I will." Hari said with a smirk before thrusting his arms forward, launching the conjured spears owards the Jounin at amazing speed. One of the spells that Hari could do automatically and easily was Telekinesis after reading an obscure book on Mind Magicks from the Potter Library that one of his elves found. He practiced it to the point that he could float anything from small rocks to heavy trees with ease.

Asuma immediately started dodging but Hari's next words scared him and made him double his efforts so that he won't be shish-kebabed by the flying spears.

"Oh, before I forget, did I mention that I can control the flight of my spears?" Hari said in a childish voice before using his right hand to guide the flying spears, changing direction in mid-air to follow Asuma as he continued to run around the room. "Since you want me to do better, might as well give you more toys to play with eh?"

With that said, Hari transfigured some of the spears into wolves and animated them to attack Asuma immediately cursed and shouted foul play which he and everyone else in the arena ignored. This was a fight after all.

Now, the Jounin was faced with six very sharp pointy spears and six hungry-looking wolves. Gulping, he started running around, dodging bites and spears desperately. Despite his predicament, Asuma saw that Hari had to concentrate so the spears would follow him. Coming up with a hasty plan, he used a Shunshin to appear directly behind his opponent and launched a kick that would hit the spine. He didn't expect it to hit but it would be enough to distract his opponent to buy him some time.

Hari sensed chakra behind him so he immediately apparated out just in time before the kick could hit him. He appeared perched on the wall before drawing out his Holly wand and vanished the spears but leaving the wolves to play with his opponent. Setting his sight on his target, he bellowed out his next spell.

"_**Incendio!" **_Since he overpowered the spell, a stream of white fire flew from the tip of his wand towards the Jounin who was busy trying to get away from the wolves. The fire hit the man causing a large explosion and covering the arena in smoke. Hari tensed as he waited for the smoke to disperse and when it did, he saw his wolves were already gone from being hit by his overpowered spell. And instead of Asuma, there was a charred log in the middle of the crater.

"Shit, replacement technique." cursed Hari before apparating away from his spot just in time to get away from a slash courtesy of Asuma's trench knife.

"Tricky little bugger, aren't you?" Asuma grunted when his attack didn't hit its mark. He scoured the field to see Hari perched on the opposite wall, looking at him warily. "You're too young to get a one up on me, Hari-kun." He said as he flipped through a different set of hand seals.

"_**Fuuton: Kaze Senbon!" **_More than a dozen senbon needles made of wind materialized around Asuma before flying towards Hari at insane speeds.

Seeing that he couldn't apparate in time, Hari simply created a Protego to protect him from the barrage, which proved to be a mistake since Asuma overpowered his jutsu. The first barrage hit the shield causing some cracks to appear. The second batch shattered it. Hari apparated to get away from the next wave but he was too late because some of the senbons hit him on the arm and shoulder when he turned to teleport.

Hari appeared a few meters away from Asuma's left, shoulder and arm bleeding from where the senbons hit. Growling in pain, he decided to take the kid's gloves off. Ignoring the pain he was feeling, he pushed both hands towards Asuma, palms forward.

"_**Fulgur Fluctus!" **_A wave of lightning flew from Hari's palms heading towards his shocked opponent. Asuma jumped to avoid the attack but he was a bit late and his foot was hit, causing electricity to surge through his body, making him yelp in pain as he was electrocuted. Not done with his barrage, Hari decided to use one of few techniques he created as a last resort, a techniques that combined the energies of controllable chakra and conjuration magic. He extended his hand towards the screaming Jounin, fingers stretched wide.

"_**Vinculum Fulgur!" **_Each extended finger emitted a thin bolt of lightning in the form of chains, making its way to Asuma. Many thought that the attack missed because it passed harmlessly at Asuma's side but changed their minds immediately at what happened next. Growling, Hari waved his fingers as he controlled the lightning chains, changing direction and wrapping Asuma, electrocuting him in the process. Hari immediately ended the technique when he saw his opponent black out from the pain.

Asuma slumped to the ground unconscious and smoking signifying that Hari won the match.

Hari dropped to his knees and panted from exertion. Beads of sweat poured down from his face due to the amount of focus, chakra, and magic he needed to expend for his last attack. One of the reasons why he didn't like to use **Vinculum Fulgur** was the amount of magic and chakra it needed to create, as well as immense control requirement in order to manipulate each of the lightning chain to any direction he wished. The farther the opponent, the more lightning was needed to create, which in turn, would eat up a lot of both chakra and magic from Hari's reserves.

He was brought out of his rest when he heard clapping from all around the arena. He looked up to see everyone who watched the fight give him an approving look, as well as excited clapping for such a wonderful show of skill and power. Some of them was hooting in excitement for a great fight.

Hari couldn't help but grin.

Wanting to know the status of his opponent and praying that he didn't overdo it, he pushed himself from the floor and reach towards his pouch before pulling out a vial of Pepper-Up Potion. He downed it in one go and felt his chakra go back to normal though his magic reserves were still slowly being refilled. Despite the lack of magic the potion replenished in his body, it was enough to keep him energized for what he was going to do next.

He walked over to an unconscious Asuma, flicked out his Holly wand and fired diagnostic spells towards the downed Jounin. Seeing that the Jounin was alright except for a few burns and nerve damage, he looked up to the Hokage who was looking at his son in worry.

"Don't worry, Hokage-sama. Your son is alright. Just a few fried nerves and burns that's all. Just give him a _Nerve Repair Potion_ and some rest then he's good as new." said Hari which made the Hokage sigh in relief. A team of medic-nin came into the arena and hauled Asuma away to be treated after Hari gave them some instructions to follow. They didn't question Hari because of his status as a medic-nin.

"Thank you, Hari-kun. That was an amazing fight if I do say so myself. Now, are you ready to hear the evaluation from the jury?" the aged leader asked.

Hari nodded, stilling himself to hear what the experts had to say.

The Chuunin who took charge of the written exam stood up and coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Mahora Hari finished his written exam in record breaking time of two minutes and spent the rest of the time relaxing." He said with a shake of his head. Those who heard that gave Hari an incredulous look. "The purpose of the exam was to find a way to cheat but it would seem that Hari-san was capable in answering all of those questions with ease. Tell me, Hari-san, how did you answer all those questions considering that all of them were Jounin-level?"

Hari scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, I know the answers to those questions because I saw that it was the same test Shikaku-san gave me when I was taking his proficiency test to see if I studied the shinobi arts properly. If you want to blame someone, then blame him." He said with a grin causing the Chuunin go grumble about lazy and annoying Naras.

"Well, I guess that you pass that part of the test." said the Chuunin before sitting down.

The next Chuunin who stood up was in a pink ballerina outfit causing a lot of the shinobis in the area to laugh at him.

"Ha ha! Very funny." snarked the totally-embarrassed shinobi, "Anyway, I don't know what you did to launch me from my hiding spot to your location only that you did. Despite the un-shinobi-like tactic, you got the scroll as your mission dictated and made your way to the tower without getting eaten by the residents of the forest. You pass my exam. Now can you please get rid of this ridiculous outfit?" he begged in a whining voice resulting in a fresh wave of laughter.

Hari grinned and nodded before waving his wand over to the Chuunin, reversing the change. The shinobi inspected his outfit before sighing in relief.

To Hari's surprise, the Hokage spoke next.

"Since Asuma is currently unconscious, I'll handle your evaluation for the final part of the exam. I can say that your taijutsu style was flawless though you got tired too easily since you weren't used to prolonged fighting though that can be easily remedied through practice. Your use of techniques was astounding as always thanks to your _bloodline_ and it was perfectly executed to counter Asuma's experience and your inexperience in shinobi battle by being unpredictable. Despite the lack of ninjutsus in your arsenal, you gave a good fight and won. Finally, I would just like to say that you lack the experience in planning your attacks, especially on the fly since a shinobi should always be three moves ahead of his opponent. Nothing a good experience in missions couldn't fix." He paused to receive the two papers handed to him by the first two examiners. He glanced at it briefly before giving a nod. "To conclude this exam, I congratulate you in passing all three tests with flying colors and I am more than happy to give you the rank of Tokubetsu Jounin. Welcome to the fold, Mahora Hari, Tokubetsu Jounin of the Leaf."

Hari whooped in happiness amidst the clapping of his now comrades in the Konoha ranks.

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**end of chapter 4. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm somewhat surprised that a lot of readers liked this story. In just 3 days, this story got:  
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**77 Reviews**

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**Liked it, loved it, adored it. So there.  
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**I received a PM from one of my followers asking my why the sudden change in my writing style (shorter paragraph, lesser description, and a bit of humor added into the mix). Well, to be honest, this was my first writing style though I started writing long chapters with more details when I re-read all my favorite books. I guess I didn't notice that I started writing in a novel-like way. Interesting, wot?  
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**Anyway, here's chapter 5. Hope you like it.  
**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.  
**

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**Chapter 5: Becoming a Sensei, what?**

After given the rank of a Tokubetsu Jounin by the Sandaime, Hari was immediately invited over to the Hokage's office to brief him of his responsibilities and why he was given such a rank. According to the Hokage, a Tokubetsu Jounin was a shinobi who showed a unique skill and mastered it to Jounin level.

For example, Gekko Hayate was a Tokubetsu Jounin because of his skill in swordsmanship, making him a formidable shinobi even if the guy lacked ninjutsu and genjutsu skills. Another example was Mitarashi Anko because of her skills in assassination, infiltration, and interrogation.

In Hari's case, he was a Tokubetsu Jounin because of two reasons:

One, he was quite capable with his magic and able to use it to amazing feats in and out of missions, especially when the Hokage pointed out that his lightning attacks were practically B to A-rank techniques due to their destructive power.

Two, he was a fully-registered medic-nin with a lot of achievements in the field of healing thanks to his potions and spells. The Hokage proudly placed his skill to be almost on par with Tsunade. Hari just needed to expand his knowledge of the human body then he would be good to go.

Such was the case; Hari was given a support-role on missions with the leeway of being a front-line fighter during emergencies. The wizard-now-shinobi had no problems with that since he needed to train in the shinobi arts like mad if he wanted to be successful.

Besides, he had a bounty now so he needed to be stronger; strong enough to repel any attacks coming his way.

Hari was happy with the result of his exam and rank but his happiness was put to a stop when the Hokage informed him that he wouldn't be given any missions as of yet.

The Hokage explained that due to his lack of battle and mission experience, he would need to spend six months in shinobi training with a selected group of Jounins to make sure that his skills were up to par in the field.

Shinobis were nothing but thorough in their profession and the Hokage wanted Hari to achieve mastery level in his abilities to make sure that he survived the outside world.

It was right there that Hari realized that he had no problem using magic in a fight but shinobi battles were different to wizard battles. In shinobi battles, skill was a basis for survival but success requires looking underneath the underneath and to expect the unexpected.

This was what Hari lacked that the Hokage pointed out much to the newly-minted Tokubetsu Jounin's chagrin.

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The next six months of Hari's life as a Tokubetsu Jounin was a routine between hospital work, potion brewing, studying magic and anatomy, as well as sparring with various Jounins in the field, including Sarutobi Asuma who seemed to have made it a life goal to give Hari a beating of a lifetime (sore loser); Mitarashi Anko who loved to clobber him silly using her snakes and drawing a lot of his blood in the process (bloodthirsty woman); Gekko Hayate (the sword-wielding menace) who Hari had to resort to running around the training ground just to get away from the 'manslayer' as he dubbed him; and finally, Kurenai Yuuhi, a newly promoted Jounin, to teach him to fight through illusions but putting him in the most horrid and mind-scarring genjutsus that girl had in her arsenal (sadistic mind freak princess of beauty).

Because of the number of sparring partners he had every day, Hari had to go home bloody, bruised, and tired as hell. Thankfully, his elves were experts in nursing him back to health so he was in perfect working order for his next scheduled beating.

It was thanks to his many spars that Hari was able to improve his battle sense, so to speak. His sparring partners would point out flaws to his technique though not providing solutions to correct them.

As a result, Hari had to study the magical arts and experimenting with his magic to conform to different battle scenarios and come out the victor. This also resulted in him experimenting on the many methods of combining both chakra and magic for better results, as well as adding to his repertoire of techniques that he would be using instead of shinobi jutsus.

He didn't know it but his sparring partners made a unanimous decision to not coddle him and let him improve on his own power. They were letting Hari do just that without telling their…ummm…practice dummy, so to speak. They didn't want to get pranked in retaliation after all.

Asuma attacked him with ninjutsu and taijutsu, This resulted in Hari improving his skill in shinobi battle, as well as coming up variations to his magic-chakra techniques to counter every jutsus thrown at him. The training with Asuma also improved Hari's strategy-making level to be able to create on-the-stop tactics even under duress.

Anko just attacked him in a straightforward manner without any fear of hurting him. Because of this, Hari had to force himself to improve his ability to dodge and expect attacks from any direction since the Snake Mistress of the Leaf was an expert in stealth and launching attacks to his blind spots.

Hari also found out that he could communicate with Anko's snake summons using the parseltongue skill he received from Voldemort. But unlike the snakes on his world, summoned snakes would only listen to their masters but can be persuaded if necessary (for example, Hari would use parseltongue on the snakes that bound him from Anko's Shadow Snake Hands technique to refrain from biting which they easily complied). They might not have followed his orders to disobey their masters but summon snakes in general respected him enough to avoid killing him.

Gekko Hayate improved Hari's reflexes and reaction time to weapon-wielding opponents; or more specifically, a sword. Gekko helped the wizard-shinobi utilize his flowing taijutsu style by forcing Hari to block, parry, or even dodge sword strikes while delivering blows after blows to bring down his opponent.

Because of Hayate, Hari mastered the Reparo spell that it became instinctive to cast since the Tokubetsu Jounin swordsman had a sadistic streak in slicing his clothes to pieces with that damnable katana of his.

Speaking of Hayate, Hari had to force the sick Jounin to the hospital for treatment. He found out that Hayate's family all had this genetic disease that targets the lungs. It was a well known fact that the Gekko clan tend to die before they reached the age of 40, even less if they were shinobis because physical exertion made the disease worst.

Such was the case; Hari had to force Hayate to stick to the hospital for a week to undergo treatment using potions and spells to get rid of the problem. It was safe to say that the treatment was a success and Hayate promised that he would take it easy on Hari's clothes during sparing as payment.

The glare that Hari gave the Jounin didn't faze the man in the slightest.

* * *

Mahora Hari became a well-respected shinobi in the Konoha ranks as he accompanied his comrades in many missions.

Thanks to his training and ever-growing experience in the field of shinobi battles, his diverse set of skills and abilities made it possible for him to protect his team, launch devastating attacks in a blink of an eye, erect impenetrable barriers that can easily withstand A-rank jutsus; and finally, make sure that everyone in his team survived no matter what state they were in after the mission.

He was both respected as a powerful fighter and healer which made the Mahora clan head proud of his accomplishments.

For five years, he went to a total of 20 C-Rank missions, 15 B-Rank, 17 A-Rank, and 3 S-Rank missions, a feat for someone who had only been a shinobi for half a decade. He wasn't given any D-Rank missions because of his work in the hospital.

Not only was he the most requested Tokubetsu Jounin to be part of a mission, his determination to make sure that his team make it out alive was legendary, more so when he saved a man on the brink of death after getting the heart punctured by a stone spear from an Iwa Jounin - said Iwa Jounin was electrocuted to unconsciousness by Hari and left said Jounin man smoking in a very deep crater.

Because of that, there was a rule among the Konoha shinobi ranks.

Don't anger Mahora Hari if you want to stay sane. He won't kill you but he'll make your life a living hell if you do, heal you to perfect hell then do it again.

Speaking of which, Hari was also the source of many talks since he accomplished all of his missions without having to take a life.

Sure, he could dish out devastating techniques using his so-called _bloodline_ but he only went to the point to put his enemies in the brink of death and none closer. In most cases, the deed of killing was mostly handled by his teammates and they didn't blame him for it considering his status as a medic.

Medics were supposed to save life, not take it; though Hari's teammates tend to ignore the various lightning shots electrocuting the enemy with laughter accompanying the screams.

Nope, they didn't see a thing.

Ignorance was bliss, after all.

Because of his skill in magic and his ability to heal anyone, his Bingo Book entry was updated to bestow upon him two nicknames. One to bring fear and the other to bring courage to his friends and comrades.

To his enemies, he was known as the _Konoha no Raijin (Lightning God of Konoha)_ because of his kills in lightning.

To his friends and comrades, he was the _Jinsei no Shinobi (Shinobi of Life)_ for his mastery of the healing art.

Despite his many achievements, he didn't rise above A-Rank because of his lack of kills, though he scared a lot of enemy shinobis because of his sadistic streak in electrocuting his opponents; thus giving him another alias – _Konoha_ _Happīsadisuto o hikiokosu (Trigger Happy Sadist of Konoha)_ for his signature technique of firing lightning bolts without pause while laughing at his opponents as they tried to get away from him.

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Mahora Hari yawned as he was woken up by the bright glare from the sun streaming through his open window. He glared at the offending ball of fire before yawning while pushing himself off the bed.

Grumbling about annoying suns and early morning calls from the Hokage, he dragged himself to the bathroom for a cold shower to wake himself up. He was still tired since he had a bit of training exercise with Anko in the Forbidden Forest last night. That woman doesn't take no for an answer.

That sadistic woman was as bloodthirsty as ever and he regretted adding the woman to the wards so she could come anytime. Despite being a close friend of his, the woman was a headache to deal with.

It was 20 minutes later that he exited his room after donning his usual outfit. He decided to forgo the standard Jounin outfit and stuck to his favorite blue kimono, hair tied neatly that reached the middle of his back revealing his lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and his hitai-ate around his waist like a belt.

He no longer wore glasses since he was able to find an eye correction potion from one of the many healing texts in the Potter Library. The only reason why it didn't click in the Wizarding World was the amount of pain the corrective potion would induce to the patient.

Since he had a high pain tolerance thanks to the Dursleys, Voldemort, Death Eaters, and his many sparring partners in the shinobi world; he drank the potion without fear and a few seconds later, groaning in pain and rolling on the floor as the potion took effect.

An hour later, he had perfect eyesight much to his delight disregarding the Cruciatus-like pain he had to suffer through during the correction.

He apparated out of his home and into the Hokage's Office, finding himself in the company of the aged leader, as well as his fellow comrades in the shinobi ranks.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama. I hope I'm not late for…whatever it is you called me here for." said Hari as he made a face, earning him various chuckles from the people in the room.

"Oh no, you're not late Hari-kun. In fact, you're just in time." Sarutobi said with a grin.

Hari immediately saw that the old man was up to _something_ and that _something_ had _something_ to do with him. He inwardly shuddered as he prepared himself.

"In time for what?" he asked, knowing that he just walked into _something_ that he would forever regret.

"Why, Genin team selections, of course. As if you didn't know." Sarutobi said mischievously.

"As a matter of fact, no, I didn't know. So why am I here?" asked Hari, already dreading the answer.

"Well, _all_ the Jounins in this room are the cream of the crop and I called everyone – yes, this includes you, Hari-kun – here so you can pick your own team." The Hokage said with a huge smile on his face.

Hari stared at the Hokage who simply stared back. The battle of stares continued for a few more minutes with the various Jounins in the room holding their breath, silently making bets with their comrades as to who would give in.

Eventually, someone did.

Hari groaned and palmed his face in irritation. "I hate you, you know that right?" snarled Hari in annoyance. The groan was mimicked by some of the Jounins in the room followed by a click of coins exchanging hands.

"Yes, yes I do. And I love you too, Hari-_chan_." said Hokage with a content smile on his face. The 'chan' reference caused everyone to laugh. This went on for a few seconds before he coughed to gain everyone's attention. "Alright, fun's over. Now, you are all here for the Genin selection. We have a total of 31 graduates from the Academy. You already got the files so I'm open for recommendations."

Hari suddenly had a sinking feeling as he listened to the Hokage. He didn't know any files nor did he get any. What in the world was the old man talking about, or in his case, planning?

"Now before we begin, let me just say Hari-kun that I have a very special team in mind for you. However, I want you to wait for the rest to finish before we discuss your future…team." said Sarutobi with a pleased look on his face. After all, he just roped the very Jounin that was able to get out of the prospect of taking a team for two years. Now he had no excuses. Sarutobi was mentally cackling in delight.

"Fine." Hari said with a sigh, resisting the urge to bang his head on the wall or throw a lightning bolt at the Hokage's smug face. "On with the show, I guess."

The selection of teams went on for an hour and a half, ending with Hari being the only one in the room.

"Thanks for waiting, Hari-kun." said Sarutobi who immediately chuckled when the wizard-shinobi gave a resigned nod. He pulled out a piece of paper from the stack on his desk and handing it over. "That is the file of your team."

Hari glanced at the file and noticed that there was only one paper.

"Uhhh? I think you're getting senile, old man. Isn't a team supposed to be made of a Jounin and three Genins?" asked Hari as he looked at the picture of a blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheek.

"That is true but I want you to read the file first and tell me what you can conclude from it." suggested the Hokage, gesturing towards the paper Hari was holding.

Sighing, Hari read through the Academy file of one Uzumaki Naruto and couldn't help but frown. There were plenty of discrepancies in the file and he immediately came to a conclusion.

"This is not _the_ Naruto I know, Hokage-sama." declared Hari as he waved the bogus file. "If I didn't know any better, this file is rigged."

"You are correct, Hari-kun." said Sarutobi with a nod. "The file that you have there is practically the ONLY file in existence for one Uzumaki Naruto and even his teacher's notes, one Umini Iruka, isn't there. It meant that someone rigged the file or sabotaged Naruto's education to the point that he is far below his peers."

"Sheeesh. The civilians I can understand but the shinobis too?" Hari said incredulously. "Don't tell me they hate the boy for the Kyuubi?"

"It is possible but I have a distinct feeling that the civilian council have a hand in that decision; though that is moot point since Naruto passed and became a Genin." declared Sarutobi with a proud smile on his face.

"Oh? Even if the record I am holding says that he failed, spectacularly I might add; he still passed? Do tell?" asked Hari with a glint in his eyes.

Sarutobi immediately told Hari what happened last night, Mizuki tricking Naruto in stealing the Forbidden Scroll in guise of a special exam to promote the boy to Jounin. Due to the boy's desperation to prove himself, Naruto immediately stole the scroll from the Hokage's Office, a task that Hari was amazed at considering how protected the place was. The end of the tale was Naruto beating the crap out of the traitor using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Iruka giving the boy his forehead protector that elevated him from Academy student to Genin.

"Interesting. For an Academy student to learn Kage Bunshin in a span of two hours is noteworthy. The boy has talent; too bad that the idiots aren't helping him hone such talent." Hari growled.

"That is where you come in." said Sarutobi with a smile. "I want you to take Naruto as a temporary apprentice. Teach him everything starting from the beginning."

Hari sighed. It was possible sure, but the task was going to take a while unless Naruto pulled off a miracle.

"You do know that it's going to take a long time to train Naruto to the level of his peers right? I mean, you want me to compress five years of lessons into months. An impossibility if I do say so myself."

"Not impossible. Hard, yes, but not impossible." Sarutobi corrected him. "Do you know the schematics of the Kage Bunshin?"

Hari nodded before realization dawned in his eyes followed by a mischievous glint and an evil chuckle. This was mimicked by Sarutobi and the two spent a whole thirty minutes laughing their head off, scaring the crap out of the secretary who was about to enter the room.

* * *

Naruto was annoyed. Not only was his peers showing their disbelief that he passed (not seeing the forehead protector tied on his head), Iruka-sensei also announced that he didn't have a team but to wait for someone to fetch him for further instructions.

Here he was now, waiting for his…escort along with Team 7 made up of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and a creepy kid from last year's class named Sai. Of course, he tried to strike up a conversation with Sakura but all he got was a punch to the head and various statements of belittlement with him ending up depressed in the corner of the room.

However, he was brought out of his thoughts when the door opened to reveal a shinobi that he sometimes saw during his many prank runs in the village. Not only was this Jounin dressed to impress compared to the outfit of the other Jounins in the village, but there was a presence around this man that screamed power.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" said the Jounin, earning his attention, as well as everyone in the room.

"That's me." exclaimed Naruto with excitement. He didn't know why he was excited but he was.

"Good, starting today, you're going to call me sensei and you're going to be my student. Understood?" said the Jounin with a grin on his face mimicked by Naruto.

"Hai, sensei!" shouted Naruto as he made his way to the front. However, before he could reach his teacher, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"How come the dobe gets his own personal sensei while I'm stuck with these losers." said Uchiha Sasuke with a glare.

"That is for me to know and for _you_ to never find out, gaki." said the Jounin.

"Hn, I guess losers like Naruto attract loser senseis as well." declared Sasuke with an evil grin on his face though the grin became a frown then turning into fear when a bolt of lightning blasted him from his seat and hitting the wall, all the while being electrocuted thanks to the lightning that was currently attached to his chest.

"If I was a loser, Uchiha-boya, then I shouldn't have been able to hit someone of _your_ caliber, right?" said the Jounin with a grin, holding up a finger sparkling with lightning. "If you know what's good for you then I suggest that you keep your trap shut before I do it for you."

"Hey! You can't do that to Sasuke-kun." shouted Sakura but got the same treatment as her idol, blasted, thrown, and electrocuted.

The Jounin turned to the surviving member of Team 7 and raised an eyebrow. "You have something to say to me, Genin?" he said ominously, the silence in the room made the crackling lightning loud in contrast.

"No, Jounin-san." said Sai with a creepy smile on his face.

"Good. Make sure you wipe that fake smile on your face before I…_shock_ it out of you." The lightning on the Jounin's finger grew in intensity.

Sai's smile morphed into one of fear, making the Jounin chuckle before gesturing for Naruto to follow him outside the Academy.

Naruto was excited. This was going to be a great year for him.

* * *

Hari led Naruto to the training ground nearest his home, Training Ground 42 which would become their personal space to get everything into gear. He walked at a calm pace, testing Naruto's patience if the boy could control that vaunted stamina of his.

So far, the boy hadn't asked any questions but was just happy to follow him as he prodded on.

When they got there, Hari beckoned for Naruto to sit on the grass which he later followed. He pulled out the boy's file from his pocket and handed it over to the blonde.

Curious, Naruto took it and gave it a glance, paling before a depressed air seemed to hover around him.

"Before we go into discussions about training, I want to talk to you about that piece of paper you're holding." said Hari.

"What about it?" murmured Naruto, his hands turning into fist, crumpling the paper in the process.

"Nothing but you're doing a good job of destroying it. I was planning to that myself after we talk about it but it seems that you're one step ahead of me so good for you." Hari said with a grin.

Naruto's head snapped up to meet his sensei with a hopeful look on his face. But before he could say anything, Hari raised his hand for the boy to keep silent.

"For starters, after reading that file, I already came into the conclusion that you're not well-liked in the Academy. Either you did all those things on the paper or you didn't and someone has it out for you. I think you already know why they are acting like that, correct?"

Naruto nodded, not saying anything, not trusting his voice at the moment.

"Well good. Anyway, my name is Mahora Hari. Starting today, you're going to start calling me Hari-sensei. Understood?"

"Hai, Hari-sensei." Naruto murmured.

Lips twitching, Hari slapped the boy on the side of the head causing said boy to yelp in both surprise and pain.

"I didn't hear you, Genin. Understood?" raising his hand again for emphasis. Naruto immediately got the idea.

"HAI! HARI-SENSEI." shouted Naruto, not wanting to get smacked on the head again.

"Perfect. Since you can be taught then teaching you everything from scratch would be easy. Now, let's discuss your training regimen. Sure, you're a Genin by name only but when it comes to skills, you're nothing but an Academy student." Naruto was about to retort but Hari beat him to it. "However, that can be easily corrected. After all, you just learned one of the best training jutsus in the Elemental Countries."

"What technique is that sensei?" Naruto asked curiously though Hari could practically feel the excitement leaking from the boy's tone.

"Kage Bunshin." Hari said simply.

"How does that help in training?" Naruto asked, confused. What does the shadow clone have to do with training?

"I think a demonstration is in order. First, I want you to make a clone." Naruto nodded and created a single clone. "Good, perfect control of the jutsu. You're going far, kid. Now, I want you to close your eyes and command your clone to stand by that tree over there." Naruto told the clone to stand by the tree before closing his eyes. Hari waved his hand over Naruto's face and didn't see a reaction so the boy was honest in following his orders. Looking at the clone, he flicked his hand and shot a bolt of lightning that hit the clone right in the face, causing it to explode into smoke.

A few seconds later, Naruto immediately stood up from his spot and pointed at him with incredulity and disbelief on his face.

"What did you do that for?"

"Do what?" Hari asked innocently.

"Hit me with that bolt of lightning from your finger."

"If I hit you with my technique then you should be unconscious right now."

"But…."

"I hit your clone kid."

"Then how did I know that you hit it with a lightning jutsu?"

"Simple, the memory of your clone is transferred over to the creator. In other words, whatever your clone experienced, you get to experience it too. That is why I said that Kage Bunshin is the best training tool in the entire Elemental Countries. You can learn different subjects using your clones. Multi-tasking at its finest if I do say so myself."

"So what does this training involves?" asked Naruto with an excited gleam in his eyes. He didn't know that Kage Bunshin could do that. He lamented for now reading the entire entry on the jutsu in the Forbidden Scroll. He was pressed for time during that event so he focused more in learning that learning its schematics.

"Well, Naruto, you're going to start from scratch. You're going to learn everything you should have learned in the Academy. Your clones will take care of the knowledge while the real you will be undergoing physical training with me." Hari said with a glint in his eyes that scared Naruto out of his wits. "You're excited now but when we start, you're going to curse my name to the heavens."

Naruto felt a cold shiver run down his spine and almost pissed himself when he heard the most evil laugh coming from his sensei.

He didn't know why but he started praying for his safety.

* * *

**end of chapter 5. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6. But before you go down to what you clicked the link for, let me just address a few concerns from the reviews I got.  
**

**Harry/Hari's personality:  
**

**I got two of these actually, one a review and the other a PM, telling me that Harry/Hari's personality is cruel, sadistic, evil, etc.  
**

**If you put it into perspective, he isn't really. Let me try to explain. **

**Before Voldemort's demise, Harry's personality is that of a lamb being prepared for the slaughter. Due to the lack of time and environment to grow into his potential, he has always been suppressed to the point of being weak, naive, an uneducated. Even forms of emotional response wasn't properly developed that even Love and care was alien to him to a degree.  
**

**The sudden change to his personality upon entering the Elemental Nation is because of two factors:  
**

**Factor 1 - Freedom. Because of the lack of freedom he had back in Britain, Harry/Hari is now wallowing in that freedom, to do things that he wanted to do. Freedom to express himself, freedom to showcase his abilities without in fear of his enemies finding out, and most important, freedom to what he wanted to do without conforming to the desires of others. He isn't evil; hardly. He is just enjoying the freedom from being an emotionally-deprived human. You might say that he just went to the extreme.  
**

**Factor 2 - Expression. This might still jive with the above factor but Harry/Hari wasn't able to properly express himself while he was still in Britain. Even to his friends, he always matches his lifestyle to that of his peers. In the Elemental Nations, however, he can express himself freely. His sadism is the result of freedom, expression, and most importanlyt, the training he went through. Let's just say that Anko had a bigger impact on his thoughts and emotional pattern that the other tutor/trainers he worked with.  
**

**I think I ranted long enough. Enjoy  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6: A Month of Hellish Training**

Hari made do with his promise to the Hokage of training Naruto from the ground up. He planned on training Naruto by following the methods of his tutor and training partners while he was learning the shinobi arts with a few refinement of his own to make sure that Naruto became a balanced, all-around fighter.

Hari wanted to avoid overspecialization at all cost. He wanted Naruto to be adaptable, yet powerful in his own right.

After the explanation of the Kage Bunshin, the rest of the time before lunch was spent discussing how Naruto was 'trained' in the Academy so Hari could discern the trouble areas that he needed to focus on.

When that was done, Hari immediately ran a diagnostic spell on Naruto in order to determine the state of the boy's physical health so he would know what to do and avoid during training.

The result was exceptional Hari decided to improve on the physical training regimen to really boost Naruto's physical abilities, a balance of both speed and strength, similar to his own build.

The result of the diagnostic spell showed that Naruto was a very healthy boy (thanks to the healthy food Hari's elves fed the boy every day) though some potions were needed since the boy was a tad on the short side.

Also, there were irregularities to the boy's muscular development that needed to be corrected.

Naruto's upper body muscles were undeveloped, a testament that he didn't do much during the scheduled training spars in the Academy. The blonde's lower body muscles were developed properly thanks to the impromptu races the boy had with his pursuers after each successful prank.

In other words, Naruto's speed was where it should be for a Genin but his strength was nowhere near acceptable.

Chakra-wise, the boy was a powerhouse with reserves that would rival a Kage due the potency of his chakra. This was the reason why Naruto could bring out that much shadow clones without killing himself which shouldn't be possible since a Kage could only make 10 clones at most before passing out from exhaustion. Thanks to the boy's chakra potency, he wouldn't have this problem ever.

Hari immediately attributed the chakra potency to Kyuubi since bijuus were known to be living chakra themselves and Naruto's chakra coils adapted to the injection of bijuu chakra since infancy.

When Hari had a test spar with Naruto, the wizard-turned-shinobi couldn't help but palm his face and refrained from rushing to the Academy and electrocuting the instructors there.

Naruto was as graceful as a bulldozer thanks to his brawler-style taijutsu that the boy created himself due to the instructors teaching him wrong.

Hari cursed the high heavens since he was _really_ going to start from scratch.

Thanks to these facts, Hari finally came up with a training program that he immediately informed the blonde.

First, he needed to teach the boy to relax because a shinobi couldn't afford to be on a regular sugar-high since that would result in the boy's death especially in the battlefield. This was easily done because meditation was a mental art and the clones could easily do this while the original indulged in physically-demanding activities.

Second, Hari informed Naruto that while his clones were working on the mental aspect of training, he would personally train Naruto physically to achieve above average strength and speed. The evil chuckle Hari gave off after mentioning this fact scared Naruto out of his wits.

Hari was channeling Anko without him noticing.

Third, he needed Naruto to control his over abundant chakra reserves since learning jutsus without proper chakra control would backfire and cause accidents ranging from the jutsu blowing up on his face or cause a large enough explosion that would level half the village.

Both Hari and Naruto at the mental image that statement produced.

Done with the evaluation, the next step was shopping in order to get rid of the hideous orange jumpsuit the boy was wearing. Not only was it detrimental to his life as a shinobi, it was an eyesore. It had to go much to the boy's protest.

Such was the case; Hari dragged Naruto to one of his favorite shops in the village that he knew would treat the boy with respect because to the burden he carried. There, Naruto was subjected to an hour and a half of clothes shopping that made the boy cry and beg for it to end.

After an emotional hour and half later, Hari finally had Naruto kitted out in an acceptable shinobi outfit that would do for the time being. The wizard-shinobi knew that the boy would come up with his own unique clothing style once he got rid of the immature side in the blonde.

For a stamina freak like Naruto, clothes shopping was torture.

In the end, Naruto walked out of the clothing shop decked in black cargo pants with multiple pockets, a blue muscle shirt that showed off his physique and an orange Uzumaki swirl adorning the back. Hari had to agree to that little orange in the outfit to get the boy to shut up. Naruto decided to wear his hitai-ate on his forehead, for now.

To complete the uniform, Naruto chose to opt for a pair of boots instead of the usual sandals which according to the boy was cooler and more comfortable. Hari couldn't help but agree since sandals made your toes visible to your enemies who could easily cut them off.

A prospect that Hari didn't want happening to him; and by extension, Naruto.

When Hari asked Naruto how it felt to have brand new clothes, the boy answered that it was great.

After a brief mind probe, the wizard-shinobi found out that Naruto chose to wear the orange monstrosity of a jumpsuit since that was the only thing he could afford. He wore it every day for four years to the point that he begun to like it, even the color.

Hari was happy that Naruto adapted not because he _wanted_ to, it was because he was _forced_ to. He knew right there and then that the boy would be able to survive his training method.

Since they had plenty of time to spare, Hari brought Naruto to a shinobi-only shop and had the boy kitted out on the necessities, ranging from shurikens to ninja ropes, as well as reinforced pouch and holsters for his weapons.

The boy asked him why he was paying for everything.

Hari smoothly answered that question by telling the boy that the cost of his outfit was already covered because he got paid from apprehending Mizuki and protected the Forbidden Scroll.

It was a lie of course but it worked on such short notice. He made a mental note to tell the Hokage this alibi just in case the blonde decided to ask the old man.

* * *

Naruto was in hell, literally and metaphorically.

His new sensei immediately jumped into the hubbub of training him from scratch in the second day of their meeting. Despite the fact that training was brutal, he wouldn't want it any other way.

First, he was given a set of chakra weights to improve his strength and speed. It should have been tolerable but his sensei started him off at 50 pounds each totaling to 200 pounds on top of his body weight. He had him run laps and do muscle building exercise from morning till noon while his 100 clones were given various task to improve his mental capabilities.

His vaunted stamina was put to the test and even found lacking much to his chagrin. He had to push himself to the limit since his sadistic sensei kept launching lightning bolts in his direction every time he slowed down.

After being electrocuted a few times, he learned his lesson and persevered.

Speaking of his clones, they were divided into three groups of 50, 25, and 25. He could have easily made more but his sensei was adamant to stick to 100 clones to avoid damaging his brain.

The first fifty clones were tasked to meditate. When he asked his sensei why such a number, he was told that the number of clones would speed up his learning of the mental arts faster. He couldn't deny that because when he dispelled these clones by the end of the day, he felt calmer and able to focus easily compared to his previous countenance. He was still hyperactive but he can somewhat control it now. It was slow but he'll get there soon enough thanks to his clones.

The second group consisting of 25 clones was given the task to do the Tree Walking exercise to help him control his chakra. Naruto was annoyed because his sensei kept laughing when his clones were blown off the tree because of channeling too much chakra for the exercise.

At the end of the day, after dispelling this group, he was able to make it up halfway up the tree no problem though he needed to reach the top and try to maintain the tree walking exercise without stepping on the ground for two hours before his sensei deemed him proficient. His sensei informed him that he would be deemed a master of Tree Walking if he could fight while sticking for two hours non-stop.

It cemented the belief that his sensei was a sadistic bastard. He didn't voice it out loud though since he wanted to avoid those lightning bolts of his.

The third group composed of the last 25 clones was given various books for them to read, ranging from history to mathematics; and from chakra to elemental affinity – basic books on general education and shinobi arts. He was wrong when he first thought that his sensei was joking in teaching him everything he should have learned in the Academy. He shouldn't have doubted the guy much to his chagrin.

When one of his clones complained that it didn't want to read, it was promptly zapped by a barrage of lightning that left a crater where the clone stood.

Needless to say, no one complained after that.

In order to give Naruto the time to assimilate the information, he was given a day off after a day's use of clones so he could adapt to the large amount of information crammed into his brain.

Of course, Naruto demanded that he could do it every day but shut up and relented his sensei informed him that he was a professional medic-nin, and doing the Shadow Clone Training Program every day would turn his brain into mush and end up a vegetable residing in the hospital.

The only saving grace to that command was giving him the use of a single clone during rest days if he ever needed one to do something outside training.

When he asked when they were going to start doing missions, his sensei just informed him to wait for the right moment since he needed to catch up to his peers in terms of shinobi knowledge. Naruto didn't complain because his sensei punctuated his point by raising a hand cackling with lightning when he was about to open his mouth to complain.

The day without clones were focused on a day of taijutsu where Hari taught Naruto Tai Chi. However, Naruto found the style to be too soft for his taste since he was, more or less, a front-line fighter.

Since strength, and eventually, speed was his forte; his sensei introduced him to a style called Kung Fu, an esoteric martial arts that mimicked the style of animals to produce unique fighting moves.

With the use of five shadow clones, with blessings from his sensei of course, he read the books that his sensei offered on Kung Fu and eventually decided to learn the Tiger style since he found the direct strength attacks to his liking while having enough defensive moves to keep him alive in a taijutsu fight. A group of clones was allocated to learning the various katas while he physically trained under his sensei's watchful eye and the Lightning Finger of Torture and Doom.

This leg of the training continued for a month until his sensei informed him of revisions to their daily schedule.

* * *

"Alright, Naruto-kun, because of your month-long training in the physical arts, as well as passing the proficiency test I gave you in terms of shinobi knowledge, we are going to revise your schedule to incorporate something new." Hari began as he stood in front of his…apprentice.

"Hai, sensei." replied Naruto, making Hari proud that his charge was learning to relax and focus instead of jumping around like a kid on sugar high.

"Good, the schedule will be as follows. For Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we will be going to continue with your physical regime since you need more speed and strength for your Tiger style. This means full-sprint around the training field for two hours and another two hours for muscle training. Afternoon will be spent sparring using clones; we will alternate between ground spar and tree spar to add to your experience and chakra control. Understood?"

"Hai, sensei." Naruto replied with a nod, this time, there was a hint of a smile on his face. The boy was definitely a glutton for punishment which Hari definitely liked. "So since I'm going to be sparring with clones, does this mean that this will incorporate a form of teamwork exercise?"

"You're correct and very good in catching that one." praised Hari which made Naruto grin. "To continue, the morning of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays will be spent doing D-rank mission. However, we are going to do it with a little bit of twist. Instead of you personally going on missions, you will assign a group of clones to do it for you. During those days, you will create 15 clones, 3 for each team. Each team will grab their mission from the Mission's Office. I already cleared this with the Hokage. I won't be supervising your D-ranks so I want you to make use of what you learned from the books to properly make a report. Understand?"

"Hai, sensei." Naruto agreed before realizing something. "Ano, Am I going to overpower the clones since it would be possible that they might encounter something during missions that would cause them to dispel?"

"Very good, boya. You're going to do just that. I think you already have enough control over your chakra to properly distribute the chakra to your clones equally?" Hari asked with a raised eyebrow. He learned during the first month that overpowering a clone allowed it to withstand a few hits before dispelling.

"Yes, sensei though I want to ask you if you could check on them just in case so I can correct errors if there is one." Naruto pointed out. "My chakra control may have improved but it isn't to your level yet though I kinda doubt if I could reach your level considering what you told me about my chakra before training."

"No problem and thanks for the suggestion. I will do just that." Hari said with a nod, pride clearly in his eyes. "Now, while your clones are doing missions, you and I will continue with physical training, however, I will introduce to you a chakra control exercise, called Water Walking. However, instead of 25 clones, I want you to only use 5 clones. I don't want you becoming too dependent on them. Besides, I want you to slow down in using your clones since I don't want to damage your brain. Sunday is a rest day, same as usual. Understood?"

Naruto nodded, already memorizing the new schedule and itching to try it out.

* * *

Hari was currently in the shinobi section of the Mahora clan library eyeing the seven large scrolls in front of him.

These were no ordinary scrolls. These were Summoning Contracts for different animals that he collected over the years. Two of them he got from the shinobis he fought (and gifted it to him as payment for sparing their lives) while the rest were thanks to the tireless efforts of his elves scouring the Elemental Nation for such contracts ever since he learned of the Monkey Summoning Contract that the Hokage possessed (the Hokage was smug that Hari didn't have a contract so the Mahora Clan head vowed to prove him wrong, which he eventually did).

The contracts he had were Bear, Tiger, Wolf, Hawk, Cats, Crow, and Falcon

The reason why Hari was eyeing the scroll was due to his plan to give Naruto a gift after surviving his second month of _'Hell Training', _as the blonde dubbed it. He was quite proud of his student since the boy became a totally new person under his tutelage.

Another reason for giving the boy a contract was to offset the lack of teammates. Despite the fact that he had the ability to create hundreds, if not thousands, of Shadow Clones with his potent chakra, they wouldn't be able to survive a prolonged battled and their skills were similar to the original so enemies could still predict what they would do.

With a summoning partner, Naruto could incorporate a variety of team-based strategies for both offense and defense with ease.

If Hari was honest with himself, despite that this was his first time to teach a student, he was quite proud of the blonde. He knew that Naruto was just a temporary apprentice since the boy's _real_ master would be continuing the boy's training soon according to the Hokage.

Also, Hari discovered that he was quite fond of teaching. If he didn't leave wizarding Britain and got labeled as a Dark Lord, he would have taught DADA at Hogwarts. He amended that if he Britain didn't do what they did, he wouldn't have found a home in the Elemental Nation. All-in-all, it worked out perfectly with him finally coming out on top.

In just a span of two months, the old hyperactive, loud-mouthed, stamina-freak Uzumaki Naruto was replaced by a calm, focused, and smart Uzumaki Naruto that was well on his way to become a fine shinobi.

In terms of strength and ability, Hari ranked Naruto as mid-Chuunin but if you couple his lack of experience into the mix, he was only mid-Genin at best. Nothing a few C-rank missions couldn't fix which he would be taking soon and let Naruto handle the job with him acting as a guide.

Back to the topic, he was eyeing the Summoning Contracts in front of him and contemplating what to give to the boy. At first, he decided to give Naruto the Tiger Summoning Contract since it would fit well with his taijutsu style and mindset.

Another potential contract for the boy was the Bear Summoning Contract which he already signed as his own. He didn't bring them out that much since there were not support-type summons who preferred to bulldoze their way through their opponents using fangs, claws, and brute strength. I

In Hari's case, he didn't bring them out as of yet due to the lack of opponents that could give him a challenge.

Despite the lack of activity in his reality, he rather liked the bears – silent, down-to-earth, and very practical, not to mention good conversationalist. When angered, they were monsters in their own rights with the boss towering over the Hokage Mountain with ease. He summoned him once and he was practically scared out of his wits when he saw the size of the claws and fangs the boss of the bear clan possessed.

In the case of animal summons, bigger was definitely better.

He shuddered when he remembered those razor-sharp teeth that could easily dice him to chunks in one bite.

Unable to decide which animal was which, Hari finally came into the conclusion to just let the boy pick for himself. He made a mental note to bring the boy to his clan compound later if time permits.

Aside from the contract, certain truths needed to come out and this was the perfect time to air them out.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was currently in his home, relaxing since it was a Sunday and there was no training on a Sunday.

As he lounged around in his comfortable sofa, he couldn't help but think back on the changes that happened to him ever since he became an apprentice of Mahora Hari, a person that Naruto looked up to like a surrogate parent or something similar to a brother.

Naruto couldn't believe how his sensei changed him for the better. Heck, he couldn't believe that he changed. Period.

Before, he resigned himself to be a mediocre shinobi because he had to do everything on his own after noticing that the Academy instructors, except for Iruka-sensei, wasn't giving him the time of day. In fact, all of his skills were all self-taught.

The only thing that he could be proud off was his large chakra reserves and stamina.

Then Hari-sensei came into the scene.

He was depressed at first when his cool Jounin-sensei showed him his Academy record but was surprised when his sensei all but said to ignore it. Instead of leaving him to improve on his own (expecting only a few advice to guide him in the right direction), his sensei personally took a hand in his training and made use of his strength to turn him into a person that he was today.

Naruto visibly winced when he remembered his first month of training. It was brutal, to say the least. The chakra weights were a big hurdle to overcome but overcome it he did because he didn't want to get electrocuted by his trigger-happy sensei who was just too attached to those lightning jutsus of his.

Besides, because of the advanced healing factor his body had in spades, hard training would help him improve faster than taking it slow. Naruto couldn't deny that his sensei was right in all aspects of his training. He never steered him wrong and Naruto liked him that way. He might be brutal to the point of being sadistic, which he was, but he was honest to a fault.

Aside from the physical side of training, his sensei also took the time to teach him meditation to help calm him down and control his natural sugar-high thanks to his vaunted stamina; guide him to learn the things that he should have learned in the Academy, and of course, help him control his above average chakra reserves.

He liked his sensei because Hari never sugar-coated anything. If Hari-sensei found something wrong then he would point it out (with lightning bolts added into the mix to drill it home) and help him correct it. Hari-sensei was honest and didn't like to play around with words.

In fact, his sensei even mentioned his 'tenant' and his sensei wasn't even bothered by it, as if treating the bijuu he contained a fly that needed to be ignored.

Thanks to the improvement on his academic skills, he made a special point to branch out to other shinobi arts during his free time. He used a disguised clone (just one since his sensei allowed him) to study in the library and scope out some jutsus that would be useful in the field. His sensei tested him once and found out that he had an affinity for Wind techniques so he scoured the Konoha Library for wind jutsus.

He didn't find much, only two that he could actually use, since Konoha shinobis predominantly had fire affinity. He made a mental note to ask his sensei if he had some wind techniques in the library he mentioned a few weeks back.

He was brought out of his musings when a familiar red avian appeared in his living room in a burst of fire, a beautiful song filling the room.

"Welcome to my home, Fawkes." Naruto greeted his visitor warmly. He was introduced to the bird during his first month of training and couldn't help but be amazed at his sensei's familiar. Not only was the bird beautiful, Fawkes was talented as well – tears that could heal any wounds or poison, able to teleport anywhere, and carry heavy burdens with ease. "What can I do for you?"

Fawkes drifted down and perched on Naruto's shoulder and dropped a rolled up paper he was carrying with his beak on Naruto's lap.

Curious, Naruto opened it and saw that it was a letter from his sensei.

_Naruto,_

_I want you to go with Fawkes and come to my home. There are a few things we need to discuss regarding the future of our team and apprenticeship. _

_Mahora Hari_

Naruto looked up and nodded at Fawkes who trilled in happiness before disappearing from the room along with his blonde passenger.

* * *

Naruto's sight cleared to see himself standing in a beautiful living room. He didn't know where he was but he had this feeling that he was currently inside his sensei's home; a fact proven immediately when his sensei appeared in front of him accompanied by a soft crack. Naruto stared at his sensei in disbelief since he knew that it wasn't Shunshin or any speed technique he knew.

"Welcome to the Mahora clan compound, Naruto-kun." greeted Hari before sitting himself on the sofa and gesturing for Naruto to do the same. Seeing that his student was making himself comfortable, he decided to open up the day's discussion. "Thanks for coming on such short notice even though it's your day off but there are some things we need to talk about that would affect our future relationship as student and teacher."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"I know everything about you Naruto, from your childhood to that fur ball you're carrying in that stomach of yours. However, you don't know anything about me. I want you to halt all your questions and listen to everything I have to say. When I'm done, you can ask me anything, alright?"

Seeing Naruto nod in agreement, Hari immediately launched into his tale; similar to the ones he gave the Hokage. He also explained about his bloodline, Magic, causing the boy to look at him excitedly though it disappeared a bit when Hari mentioned that he didn't have the ability to use magic.

It was an hour later that a dumbfounded Naruto was looking at his sensei in a new light.

"Wait, you're telling me that you're the one who treated me when I was young?" asked Naruto in disbelief and saw Hari nod. "How come I didn't remember you?"

"Simple, using my magic, I blocked the memory of all our interaction together. It was necessary at that time since I didn't want you to look at me as nothing more than a sensei. I want you to grow into your emotions slowly as you continue to grow as a shinobi. It is normal for a person to have a different outlook when they are with someone familiar. I want to see and experience the _real_ you before I unblock you memories."

"Can you return those memories to me now?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Hari nodded, pointed his finger at Naruto. A beam of white light flew from it and connected to Naruto's forehead. Naruto's eyes glazed a bit, a clear sign that he was processing the memories that made itself known inside the boy's mind, before realization dawned on his face.

"Whoah, what a rush." said Naruto before shaking his head. "You were the one who treated me when none in the hospital would give me the time of day. Thank you, Hari-sensei."

Hari smiled at his charge.

"No problem, kid. It was a pleasure. Ever since I knew of your burden, I didn't hate you. In fact, I made sure that I implemented certain…measures to make sure that you're healthy, safe, and comfortable."

Something clicked in Naruto's mind before leveling his sensei an accusing finger.

"Wait a minute. Everything was because of you. When I disappeared after being cornered by the mob, no mobs attacking my home, the food appearing out of nowhere, the changes in my home, and…and…MY RAMEN!" Naruto screamed the last part making Hari burst out in laughter at the indignant look on the blonde's face.

"Yes I did do all those things, boya." said Hari as he hit Naruto with a calming charm to the effect that it calmed the boy, seeing the confused look on the blonde's face, he decided to explain. "I hit you with a spell that helps you relax. Anyway, I did all those things for a reason Naruto. Since I couldn't adopt you because of the civilian council, I made sure to take steps to do the next best thing. Take care of you from afar. I charmed all your clothes so that you would be brought to the safety of your home if you feel extreme fear and panic. I warded your home so that no one with ill-intent towards you can enter. I had one of my house elves make sure that you're eating healthy so you won't grow stunted because of eating nothing but ramen due to the villagers hindering you from buying anything else. And most importantly, I changed all your furniture to make sure that you have a comfortable time living there."

"But why do all of those things, sensei?" Naruto asked with a confused frown on his face. He didn't know why his sensei was doing all of this for him. Sure, his sensei was kind, a bit sadistic, but a kind-hearted person but this was simply too much for an orphan like him.

"Simple, I experienced the same thing." Hari said simply, a look of disbelief crossed Naruto's face. "You see Naruto, in my world; there are certain people who are afraid of magic. One of these people was my relatives. When my parents died and I became an orphan, I was placed with my relatives since no one can take care of me at that time. They feared me, afraid what I would become so I was treated like a slave, beaten up, and abused. Your life is so similar to mine that it was scary, forced to live a life of squalor and pain because of circumstances out of our control. I don't want to see anyone suffer as I did so I helped you."

Naruto was silent as he digested his sensei's words, tears slowly forming in his eyes. Cannot help the raging emotions he was feeling, he launched himself and engulfed Hari in a tight hug who returned it. Naruto cried while mumbling 'thank you' over and over again with Hari simply patting the boy on the back to soothe his emotions. A few minutes later, Naruto was in control of his emotions that he shyly pushed himself away from his sensei and went back to his seat.

"Sorry about that, sensei. I don't know what came over me." Naruto apologized with a shy grin on his face.

Hari waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I certainly understand what you're going through." said Hari before grinning. "Anyway, I came here today for two reasons; one is to discuss some facts about future missions we will be getting; and two, give you a few gifts to help you become a powerful shinobi of Konoha."

Naruto was excited when he heard that his sensei was going to give him gifts. He grinned but stayed silent since he knew that his sensei was going to tell him something concerning missions. He was getting tired of doing nothing but D-ranks even though this resulted in his savings growing that he wouldn't have to worry about buying the things he wanted with some extras for necessities. However, he wanted something more fulfilling to do aside from chores. He was a shinobi after all.

"In terms of missions, according to the report I got from the Mission's Office, you have a total of 75 D-ranks under your belt, more than any Genin could ever accomplish in a span of two months and you did it alone. A worthy feat, Naruto-boya, if I do say so myself." Hari saw Naruto puff out his chest in pride and couldn't help but grin at the boy. "Since you have plenty of D-ranks under your belt, we are going to start doing C-rank mission. This is why I chose to give you two gifts." Hari waved his hand at the table in between them causing eight scrolls to appear - seven large scrolls and a small one.

Naruto eyed them speculatively, a curious frown on his face.

"What are these scrolls, sensei?"

"Your first gift is the small scroll." said Hari as he beckoned for Naruto to take it which the blonde did. "That scroll contains the instruction for a supplementary technique called Shunshin no Jutsu. I think you already know what this technique can do right?"

Naruto nodded eagerly and was about to open the scroll and start reading when Hari stopped him.

"Make five clones and give the scroll to them. Order them to go outside and train with that skill. I expect for you to master Shunshin in two hours. Understood?" Hari commanded in a voice that Naruto dubbed as 'Sadistic Sensei' mode.

"Hai, sensei." barked Naruto before creating five clones without having to do hand seals. He had complete control of his chakra to a point that he could do some jutsus without hand seals, and practicing with the Kage Bunshin all the time made it possible to use the technique without having to do the necessary seal. He tossed the Shunshin scroll to one of the clones. "Alright, I want you to go outside and learn Shunsin. One of you dispel if you need more clones or when you're done with it. Perfect it to the point that we won't be needed seals to use them."

"Hai, Taichou!" shouted the clones before running out of the living room, eagerness and excitement on their faces.

Hari watched the clones in amusement for a few seconds before turning to Naruto who was looking at the seven large scrolls with obvious interest.

"The reason I want you to learn Shunshin is to simplify travel time and to have an escape skill to fall back on instead of using replacement jutsu all the time. It is time consuming to walk or run around the village to get to our destination so between your Shunshin and my unique form of transportation, we can go places easier and faster." Hari saw Naruto nod at his reasoning. "Now, these seven scrolls are called Summoning Contracts." Hari ignored the shocked look on the boy's face. "I got these contracts from enemy shinobis and having my house elves track them down for me around the Elemental Nation. So far, I have these under my disposal though I might be able to acquire more in the future if my elves can find them. According to their size, these are the master scrolls for the Summoning Animal they are attributed to. Now, the contracts are Tiger, Bear, Falcon, Hawk, Cat, Crow, and Wolf. I want to you pick a contract and sign it."

"Which contract did you sign, sensei?" Naruto asked curiously as he eyed the scrolls speculatively.

Hari could see that the boy was running scenarios in that head of his and already envisioning the strengths and weaknesses of each animal.

"Bear." Hari answered with a grin. "I picked the animal that fit well with my personality. Bears are lazy animals, laidback, and very protective. However, they become monsters to their enemies when cornered or annoyed."

"You forgot sadistic." murmured Naruto which Hari clearly heard.

"You _said_ something, boya?" Hari asked with an evil glint in his eyes.

Naruto backpedalled and gave his sensei a nervous grin.

"Nothing, sensei. I said that bears suit you perfectly." He said before gulping nervously.

"I _thought_ so." Hari nodded with a pleased grin on his face. "So, any idea what animal you want?"

Naruto grew thoughtful for a bit before answering.

"Well, I'm partial to the tigers. Bears aren't that bad since they are strength types like me, though I prefer tigers since I am familiar with their attack styles. Crows are scary, and I don't really like hawks and falcons that much though I can never deny the fact that having aerial support would be advantageous. Wolves are similar to tigers in a way and they are pack animals. So if you ask me, I would say Tigers or Wolves. I'll forgo bears since you already signed it and it would be best to have two different summoning animals between the two of us in case we need diversity."

"Very well thought-out, Naruto." Hari said with pride in his eyes that made Naruto happy for the praise. "Your reasoning is sound and I agree that Tigers or Wolves would suit you best. If you ask my advice, I suggest tiger since your style gives you an affinity towards them."

Naruto nodded.

"I agree, sensei. So how do I summon?" he asked eagerly.

Hari nodded and waved his hand towards the scroll on the desk, causing six of them to disappear back to his library, leaving only the Tiger scroll.

"I want you to open the scroll, sign your name using your blood as ink. Using your hand that you want to use to summon the tigers, place blood on your fingertips and stamp it down below your name. Once done, let's go to my training ground out back and I'll teach you to summon."

It didn't take long for Naruto to finish signing the contract. The two relaxed for a bit, talking, while enjoying the snacks provided by the elves (which Naruto found fascinating).

Hari gave Naruto a free pass to come and take advantage of his library when the blonde asked if he had any wind scroll to learn from. Hari allowed him entrance but only to the shinobi section and warned Naruto that he warded the magical section that would shock anyone entering there without his permission.

Naruto took the hint immediately since he knew of his sensei's penchant towards lightning.

* * *

**end of chapter 6**

**Please leave a comment or a review. Thanks.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Nothing much to say. Thanks for the reviews guys/gals. It warms my heart to see that this story is so well-loved.  
**

**Anyway, chapter 7. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Meet the Demon of the Mist**

Hari showed Naruto the hand seals necessary for the summoning techniques and let the boy experiment his way from there. Hari couldn't help but be more proud of his student when he brought out the animal he signed a contract with. In truth, his temporary apprentice did way better than he did when he tried summoning for the first time.

Naruto's mastery of Tree Walking and Water Walking chakra control exercise made it possible for the blonde to control his output to summon a medium-sized tiger on his first try. Hari couldn't help but stare at the furry summon since the first time he tried summoning a bear resulted in him getting a month-old cub, a very hungry cub with some milk dribbling down its muzzle.

He knew that the mother of the cub would be after his blood if she ever found out that it was him who interrupted her son's feeding.

Hari had to interrupt Naruto since the boy was practically jumping around the training ground like a kid on a sugar binge for a successful summon on his first try. Hari had to hit the boy's behind with lightning just to get the boy to stop and immediately commanded the blonde to return the tiger (who was snickering at its summoner) to its home and to try bringing out the boss to finalize the contract.

It took three tries for Naruto to bring out the boss of the Tiger summons and Hari couldn't help but gape at the size of the beast. It was the same size as the boss of the Bear summon, complete with the usual provisos of fangs and claws.

Everything about the gigantic animal screamed _DANGER! RUN AWAY! SAVE YOURSELF!_

Of course, Hari couldn't do such a thing so he stayed his ground and hope for the best.

The boss of the Tigers, who went by the name Byakko, interviewed Naruto and found him to be an acceptable summoner and finalized the contract by giving the boy a tattoo on his right wrist so he need not have to do the hand seals to bring the tigers out. All he needed to do was to smear some blood on the tattoo and apply the right amount of chakra.

Hari found this unfair since the boss of the Bear summon didn't give him one. It would seem that Naruto had better luck than he did.

After finishing up the ceremony with Naruto, Byakko cornered Hari and told him that he smelled his friend and asked if he was the summoner of the Bear clan.

Instead of answering, Hari summoned Tsuyo (Strenght), the robe-wearing mace-wielding boss of the Bear summons, to prove his point.

After a brief talk between the two overly-large animals, they returned to the summoning realm before extracting a promise from their respective summoners to call them out if there was a big battle for them to enjoy.

It was there and then that Hari and Naruto realized that both of their respective boss summon were going to be a handful and promised to bring them out only as a last resort.

The damage those two would cause in battle sent shivers down their spine.

* * *

Hari made do with his promise and let Naruto try his hand out at C-rank missions to grant him the necessary experience to be on par with his skills. Most of them were delivery mission but quite a few required them to exterminate a bandit camp.

As agreed, Hari would accompany him during missions as back-up; Naruto had to do everything on his own with Hari butting in if his skill and experience was needed. Hari gave Naruto a thorough evaluation after each mission so the boy would learn his mistakes and avoid repeating it on the next mission they took.

It was during the first bandit extermination mission that Hari discovered that Naruto didn't want to take a life which made him proud of the blonde, though Naruto accidentally killed one with a knife-hand strike to the heart.

Hari had to go psychologist on the boy to help his clearly-distraught student cope with his first kill (not that he had any experience since he only killed one himself and that was Voldemort).

After their heart-to-heart session (which involved two vials of calming draught, a dozen or so of calming and cheering charms, and Fawkes serenading the two of them in the background), both decided that instead of simply killing them on sight as the mission dictated them to do, Hari and Naruto would simply transport the bunch of them to Ibiki and Anko.

The bandits were welcomed with open arms by the two, and screams from the T and I department went on for days much to the shinobis consternation. Hari and Naruto were given a fruit basket and dangos after each delivery of bandits.

When the duo learned what happened to the bandits under Anko and Ibiki's care, Naruto informed his sensei that it might have been better if they killed the bandits since they were suffering under the gentle hands of Anko and Ibiki - two people that were more sadistic than his sensei. Hari just waved his hand dismissively and informed the blonde that they deserved it since they made a mess of things being bandits and all.

Naruto didn't bother to inform his sensei again and kept his mouth shut, and judging from the sadistic smirk on his sensei's face when the screams from the bandits reached them, there was no way changing Hari's mind.

Besides, it was his plan to begin so who was he to suggest otherwise.

After two months, Naruto experienced 5 C-rank missions since Hari didn't want to spend all of their time outside the village that would cut down on the blonde's training time and Hari's responsibilities.

Naruto was curious about that and asked his sensei. What he learned definitely surprised him. Sure, he knew that his sensei was a shinobi but he didn't know that he had other professions to occupy his spare time.

The blonde learned that his sensei was a clan head and needed to be present during council sessions (which Hari said was boring as well), as well as his shift in the hospital twice a week when he had no mission to occupy his time (his sensei was the head of the new Potions Department of Konoha Hospital) though most of which was handled by his secretary, Nao, which Naruto met and became friends with.

Also, Naruto found out that his sensei was a professional medic-nin that was often called during emergencies, especially when a patient's problem was too much for the doctors to handle.

Because of this revelation, Naruto informed Hari that he was interested in becoming a medic-nin or follow his example as a battle medic. However, Naruto's chakra reserves made it impossible for him to acquire the needed control to use healing jutsus and informed him of this problem to his ambition. Any healing jutsu that Naruto managed to perform would be overpowered and would end up hurting the patient instead of healing them.

But despite this hindrance, Naruto decided to continue learning chakra control until he achieved the minimum requirement to use medical techniques safely (his first experiment in using a low-powered medical jutsu made the fish explode instead of bringing it back to life, splattering him with fish guts and had to take a shower afterwards), as well as borrowing some of his sensei's books on anatomy since the knowledge would result in his Tiger Claw to be used more effectively in combat, like attacking weak points and disabling opponent quicker by making every hit count.

It was when Hari and Naruto returned from their latest C-rank mission (delivery of the Fire Country exclusive plant, Fire Blossom, to Tea Country which went relatively well except for the usual bandits that the two had to put down and sending the lot of them to Anko and Ibiki before resuming their trip) that they met Team 7.

Hari, followed closely by Naruto, entered the Hokage's office to see Hatake Kakashi with his team reporting to the aged leader on the success of their latest D-rank mission, Catching Tora the Cat. Not wanting to waste any time dealing with the Jounin and his team, he immediately stood in front of the aged leader.

"Mahora Hari and Uzumaki Naruto returning from a successful C-rank mission to Tea Country," Hari declared with a smile on his face mimicked by Naruto. All their missions were successful, a boon to their record. His smile turned into a smug grin when Kakashi and his Genins gave him and Naruto looks of total disbelief. "Client received the delivery of Fire Blossoms as requested. We were waylaid by bandits who wanted to steal our cargo but Naruto took care of them with ease. I think you will get a report from Ibiki or Anko on their new residents since I used my _ability_ to take them there after Naruto knocked them out." He handed the signed mission scroll to the Hokage along with another report that Naruto wrote up since it was the blonde's job to write mission reports for the two of them. "Here's the signed mission scroll and report that Naruto wrote up."

Sarutobi ignored the indignant look on the Uchiha's face and proceeded to check the two scrolls and their content. Satisfied, he gave a nod and took out a payment vouched and handing it to Hari.

"Very good, Hari." praised Sarutobi before eyeing a very different Naruto. He could feel the power exuding from the boy and he couldn't help but inwardly praise the Mahora clan head for turning the boy from the Academy dead-last to a very capable Genin in just a span of four months. "I see that you changed for the better, Naruto-kun. Training with Hari to your liking?"

"Hai, Hokage-jiji." said Naruto with a smile causing Hari chuckle at the boy's address towards the aged leader. No matter how much Hari would try to teach Naruto the protocols of rank, the boy still had that mischievous streak in him - a trait that Hari didn't want the boy to lose since he was a prankster himself. "Hari-sensei is a great teacher and helped me learn everything I missed from the Academy and then some."

"Good, good. Congratulations on your recent C-rank. I think that makes it 6 C-rank under your belt." Sarutobi praised the blonde before turning to a very smug looking Mahora clan head. "Hari, you and Naruto have two days off. Return by then for another mission."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a salute causing the Hokage to chuckle. He turned to Naruto. "Back to the clan house, last one there cooks dinner." He said before disappearing from the room with a soft crack.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Naruto before following his sensei in a swirl of smoke and leaves of a standard Shunshin.

He totally missed the incredulous look from Kakashi, a surprised and questioning look from Sakura, a stoic gaze from Sai, and a jealous glare from Sasuke.

* * *

It was sometime after lunch that Hari and Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office for an emergency mission. Considering that they just got back from their latest C-rank, the two of them immediately went to the Hokage's office with their supplies in their respective storage scrolls made by Naruto during their spare time since the boy was starting to learn Fuuinjutsu on the side with his clones while training.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." said the Hokage with a frown on his face. "I got an emergency mission for you two and I have no one else to send since the other teams are still out on their respective missions."

"No problem, Hokage-sama." Hari assured him. "It was a relatively easy mission. Naruto and I are well rested for another one without bothering to rest. What seems to be the problem?"

"Team 7 under Kakashi is on a C-rank mission to Wave Country to guard the bridge builder Tazuna from bandits. However, there were some complications due to the lack of information from the client. It seems that Gato hired missing-nins to kill Tazuna before he could complete the bridge. Kakashi and his team encountered the Demon Brothers and dispatched them easily. However, Kakashi found out after interrogating the two that they worked for Momochi Zabuza, A-rank missing-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. Breaching protocol, Kakashi decided to continue the mission but I am not sure if they are capable enough to handle an A-rank mission. This is where you come in."

"Support or Take-Over?" asked Hari immediately with a grim look on his face mimicked by Naruto since the blonde knew about Momochi Zabuza due to having access to his sensei's Bingo Book and reading it during his free time.

"Support with a possibility of Take-Over scenario if Kakashi is not up to it." replied the Hokage before tossing the mission scroll to the Tokubetsu Jounin. "I bumped the mission to A-rank. Your mission is to support Kakashi's team and provide additional fire power if necessary. Bring them back in one piece, Hari-kun."

"No worries, Hokage-sama. I hadn't failed my previous teammates and I have no intentions of stopping." Hari assured him with Naruto eagerly nodding beside him. "Just to be clear, our mission parameter is to support Kakashi. They will still retain their mission to protect the client?"

"Yes, support Kakashi but if you have a clear shot to take down the source of the problem then you take it without hesitation. I know that you haven't failed even once in bringing back your comrades in one piece and I am quite confident that you won't tarnish your record as the _Jinsei no Shinobi_." ordered Hokage in a crisp voice. "You got your orders. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a salute before turning to Naruto. "East gate." Was all he said before the two disappeared using their own methods of transportation leaving a grim-faced Hokage behind.

* * *

After showing the guards at the East Gate the mission scroll and had it registered, Hari and Naruto immediately left on full-sprint using chakra to enhance their speed.

Along the way, they stopped for a bit to see a tied up Demon Brothers. Hari healed them and turned the rope tying them together into a portkey and sent them to Ibiki with a note attached to one of the brother's forehead to give them a warm welcome.

Naruto snickered when he saw the note but shuddered when he saw the sadistic grin on his sensei's face before praying for the souls of the Demon Brothers who were about to _enjoy_ Ibiki and Anko's _hospitality_.

Using Naruto's acute sense of smell (a side-effect of having the Kyuubi inside him) they followed Kakashi's scent until they came to the shore where Team 7 departed towards Wave with their client.

Seeing no other boats in sight, they had to water walk towards their destination since none of them had any other methods of travel and Hari couldn't apparate the both of them since he hadn't been to Wave Country before. They admired the large bridge from afar before meeting a lone boat coming out of the mist.

After explaining the situation to the weary boatman who was instantly relieved at hearing that they were shinobi reinforcements to protect Tazuna from Gato, he pointed them to the direction where he landed with Team 7 and Tazuna.

It didn't take long for Hari and Naruto to catch up to Kakashi and saw that Team 7 was currently under attack. They studied the situation before jumping in.

Kakashi was currently in a water bubble held by Zabuza and other Zabuzas (Hari studied them a bit before telling Naruto that they were water clones) beating the hell out of Sasuke on the shore. Sai was unconscious with a bleeding shoulder wound, while Sakura was shaking like a leaf under a storm in front of an equally shaking Tazuna.

"Naruto, I want you to help Sasuke. Take down those water clones. I'll free Kakashi and deal with Zabuza. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei." said Naruto who was vibrating in excitement since this was the first mission he had that would pit him against a fellow shinobi. They were clones, yes, but a shinobi, nonetheless.

"Good, go!" Hari barked, signaling his charge to start the mission.

* * *

Naruto dashed out from his hiding spot heading straight for Zabuza's water clones that was beating the crap out of the lone Uchiha.

Not wasting time, he threw a bunch of shurikens while on the run which nailed one of the clones and dispelling the technique. The rest were able to dodge out of the way but one of them was hit by a quick right hook from the blonde when he got in range. The punch was laced with chakra so it threw the clone towards a tree and immediately turned into water upon impact.

"How are you doing, Sasuke?" asked Naruto as he eyed the seven surviving water clones who was doing the same to him.

"W-what are you doing here, dobe?" asked Sasuke as he pushed himself off the ground and glared at the blonde.

"Saving your butt from the looks of it." said Naruto as he blocked a large sword from a water clone using a chakra-enhanced kunai before kicking the clone on the stomach which threw it back. The kick wasn't that strong so the clone was still in one piece.

"I don't need your help, dobe." snarled Sasuke as he flipped through a set of hand seals, inhaled before blowing out a large fireball towards Naruto's opponent. The only problem was Naruto being in the way which Sasukle conveniently ignored.

Fortunately, Naruto was prepared and used Shunshin to disappeared from the path of the projectile and appearing a few meters behind the Uchiha.

"What in the world are you doing, baka!" screamed Naruto with anger in his voice. Sure, Sasuke was a jackass but he didn't think that the boy would go to the extent of hitting a comrade just to bring an enemy down. That was not how a Konoha shinobi operated.

"You're getting in the way of my fight, dobe, and I don't need your help." said Sasuke who tried to punch a clone but missed when said clone dodged and kicked him on the stomach, knocking him back. Naruto clearly heard the crack of bones and deduced that the kick broke a rib or two.

Angry at Sasuke for disregarding his help and attacking him, he bit his thumb and smeared some blood on the tattoo on his right wrist and slammed his right palm on the ground.

"_**Summoning Technique: War Tiger Brothers."**_

Three armored tigers appeared in a puff of smoke. The War Tiger Brothers was a three-tiger armored task force among that specializes in team-based strength attacks. They were often used to spearhead into any defense while taking little damage thanks to the armors they were wearing. Naruto trained with them a few times to set up their teamwork and became close friends with the trio whom considered him a pack mate.

"**What's up, Naruto?"** said one of the tigers while the other two were eyeing the area before leveling an intense gaze at the water clones who was looking at them nervously. The water clones's nervousness grew when the two tigers licked their chops and eyed them hungrily.

"Need your help guys." Naruto stated to the trio. "Six opponents; all water clones of Momochi Zabuza, an A-rank missing-nin from the Mist. I need your help in taking them down while sensei deals with the main one."

"**Great."** shouted one of the tigers, giving the water clones an evil toothy grin. **"It's been quite a while since we battled a shinobi. You might want to tell your sensei that our bear counterparts want to have some fun. They were envious that we get to train with you often"**

"I'll relay that after the battle. We might do a team spar later, you and me against sensei and his bears. Anyway, let's go and get wild." shouted Naruto before dashing towards the water clones with the War Tigers flanking his side.

* * *

Kakashi was getting worried.

After a brief scuffle with Zabuza and getting trapped inside a water prison courtesy of said shinobi, he watched Sasuke disregard his order to retreat and tried to take on all of Zabuza's water clones on his own; disregarding the help that Sai was trying to give him.

He despaired when the clones were making a sport out of his students and taking out Sai from the game, leaving Sasuke to deal with them alone. It wasn't much of a fight and resigned to a possible death under his watch.

He was shocked when a blonde blur came out of the surrounding trees and dispelled one of the water clones with a barrage of shurikens and destroying another one with a punch to the face. When the blur stopped, he immediately recognized Naruto. Why in the heck was the boy here? Was he the reinforcement that the Hokage sent?

He silently observed the battle and couldn't help but get angry when Sasuke, his very own student, exhaled a fireball at close range that would have killed the blonde Genin. Thankfully, the boy was quick on his feet and got out of the way using a quick Shunshin. The water clone didn't though.

He was further shocked when Naruto summoned three huge armored tigers and making sport of Zabuza's water clones, taking them down one by one using teamwork and brute force. He saw Sasuke on the ground, holding his ribs in pain while glaring at the blonde Genin that saved his life.

"I don't know who that boy is Kakashi but _he's_ good." commented Zabuza as he observed his clones getting decimated by the blonde boy and his huge tigers. He knew that they were summons and he didn't know anyone who had the Tiger Summoning Contract since many believed it to be lost during the Second Great Shinobi War when the Tiger's last summoner died in battle. "Another one of your students, I take it?"

Instead of Kakashi answering, a voice from the mist answered Zabuza's question.

"No, Zabuza-_chan_, Naruto is _my_ student and yes, he _is_ good." said the voice from the mist before a person walked out of it. "I _trained_ him after all."

Zabuza immediately recognized the person and suddenly shivered in fear.

"Holy shit, Kakashi. Why didn't you tell me that you have the _Trigger Happy Sadist of Konoha_ as your back-up." shouted Zabuza, fear clearly evident in his tone. He knew all about Mahora Hari, an A-rank shinobi from Konoha that had a penchant of lightning techniques that didn't require seals. In fact, quite a lot of his missing-nin friends fell in the hand of this sadistic Jounin many times. But instead of being killed, there were electrocuted to every inch of their lives until blacking out from the pain and waking up later all healed up and restrained. They were all alive but the phantom pain they felt from being electrocuted gave them nightmares for months.

"I didn't know." Kakashi said lamely. "I requested reinforcements but I didn't know that Hokage-sama would send _him_ of all people."

"No shit." exclaimed Zabuza as he tried to weigh his options since standing on water while facing a powerful Jounin with penchant for lightning was NOT a good thing.

"Oh yes." said Hari as he water walked towards Zabuza before stopping a scant few meters from the missing-nin and his captive. "Now let me see. Do you want to do this the _easy_ way or the _hard_ way?"

"Easy way?" Zabuza and Kakashi both asked hopefully and fearfully at the same time.

"The _easy_ way is for me to electrocute you with a mild lightning jutsu so you would be forced to let go of your captive." Hari said cheerfully as he held up a finger cackling with electricity.

"And the _hard_ way?" Kakashi asked, gulping while eyeing the electricity-encased finger with distrust and fear. He still remembered Asuma's description of the pain he felt under Hari's technique and he didn't want to face such a thing if he could help it.

Hari increased the combination of chakra and magic he was channeling into his finger and his whole hand erupted into yellow lightning. Hari's smiled turned sadistic.

"I hit both of you with a powerful blast of lightning to knock Zabuza out and free Kakashi. Don't worry, you'll both live. A bit scorched and electrocuted perhaps, but alive all the same. After all, I'm a medic so you're in good hands." Hari said with the sadistic smile still plastered on his face.

"You do know that if you hit me with your lightning, Kakashi will be electrocuted as well, right?" Zabuza pointed out hopefully, praying that the sadistic Jounin would let him go…just this once.

"So?" Hari countered in a bored voice that scared the two. "I can always heal him up no worries. So…what will it be?"

"Neither." growled Zabuza with every ounce of courage he could muster. He made a seal and ten water clones appeared, surrounding Hari. "I don't think you'll survive with this much against you even with your reputation."

"Oh I wouldn't say that, Zabuza-_chan_." said Hari cheerfully as he raised his other hand and channeled lightning through it.

The Zabuza water clones saw it and prepared to attack but was caught off guard when Hari clapped both of his lightning-encased hands together, releasing a wave of cackling lightning around him that hit the clones, making them scream in pain before dispelling back into their base substance. The wave of lightning continued to travel outwards and hit Zabuza, making him scream in pain, and by extension, Kakashi who also screamed from being electrocuted thanks to Zabuza's hand being attached to the water prison.

Hari saw the water prison collapse and immediately levitated an unconscious Kakashi with a thought. He was surprised that Zabuza was still conscious, though smoking a bit thanks to his attack, leveling him a glare.

But before Zabuza could say anything, a lightning-encased fist hit him on the cheek courtesy of a shadow clone Hari made in advance and hidden in the mist. Said attack shocked Zabuza again while throwing him back to shore with the real Hari following him at a sedate walk with an unconscious Kakashi floating beside him.

After depositing his floating baggage beside an amazed Tazuna, Hari walked over to a downed Zabuza who was still conscious though his cheek was smoking from his lightning punch.

"Still awake? You truly deserve your rank, Zabuza-chan." Hari commented in surprise though he shouldn't be because the Lightning Fist technique that his clone used was nowhere near its original level of power since he didn't give the clone enough energy to use it in full.

"Shut up." growled Zabuza as he tried to stand up but screamed when a chain of lightning bound him in place and electrocuting him again. This time, he screamed himself into unconsciousness.

Nodding for a job well done, Hari was about to tie Zabuza up when a Hunter-nin wearing a mask with a Mist symbol appeared beside the man and took him away without a word.

Hari raised an eyebrow before shrugging. He'll deal with it later. No use trying to catch the two since whatever technique the Hunter-nin used, it brought them away from his sensing range.

When he got back to the group, Hari saw that Naruto was currently talking animatedly with his tigers. He simply smiled at the boy before continuing his walk towards Team 7, their unconscious sensei, and a relieved Tazuna.

* * *

"Do you really have to electrocute him, sensei?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. He saw the unconscious form of Kakashi after he finished his conversation with the War Tiger Brothers and sending them back to their home. When he went to his sensei treating Team 7, he saw Kakashi with some scorch marks on his clothes and skin.

Hari paused from his healing of Sai, a thoughtful look on his face. "No." he finally answered after a few seconds of though before cheerfully adding, "But it was collateral damage so no harm done."

Naruto sweatdropped at his sensei's sadistic tendencies.

"How are they?" he asked curiously when he saw Sai's wound heal before his very eyes. He wasn't surprised since he already saw his sensei heal someone from worst wounds.

"Sasuke had two of ribs broken and some internal injuries after being clobbered silly by Zabuza's clones. Finished healing him but he need to rest a day or two to get his body back into shape. Sakura and Tazuna had no injuries though they needed to change their pants since they peed on it…why, I have no idea. I already healed the gash on Sai's shoulder and the concussion he sustained from the battle. He is suffering from chakra depletion too but nothing to worry about since he can just sleep it off. Kakashi is suffering from mild burns, some nerve damage, and chakra exhaustion. I'll heal him in a bit.

"Are they fit for travel?" the blonde asked. "Tazuna said that his home is two hours walk from here."

Hari nodded.

"Sasuke can walk but that's it." he said while firing a healing spell at Kakashi's prone form. "I'll levitate Sai and Kakashi so they can sleep their chakra exhaustion off. You take the lead with Tazuna and keep a sharp look-out. Ask Sakura and Sasuke to accompany the floaters from both sides, I'll take the rear."

Naruto nodded and did what his sensei instructed. It took a while to prepare the necessary logistics since Sasuke and Sakura didn't want to follow Naruto's instructions. Hari had to intervene to shut the two up and scared the two enough to take their assigned positions.

When that was over and done with, they trekked to Tazuna's house to get the injured into a bed before deciding what to do next.

* * *

**End of chapter 7. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's chapter 8 but before that, let me address some reviews that needs…umm…addressing. **

**cjcold2:** You have a keen eye for details, my friend. You're right; I did leave out a bunch of HP favorites (like flying brooms and the magnificent tents of theirs). To be honest, I forgot all about them (ku ku ku) though I _might_ use them in the future. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Also, I didn't point out the Hokage's age/de-aging because it is not relevant to this story yet. If you want my plot on it then I decided that the Hokage wanted to keep his de-aging a trump card, as well as a Mahora clan secret. Besides, if the council found out that Hari can give them a potion to give them a bit of an extension, they would be demanding it. That is a big no no in my book.

In regards to Harry's team, stay tuned to future chapters. Ku ku ku ku.

**Akua:** Yeah, it would be nice to bring down Sasuke I few pegs. Sure, his character is cool but his attitude isn't. However, I'm not going to over-bash, if there's such a term. Let's just say that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be seeing eye to eye with each other.

**Gasanechi:** No direct bashing. They will have some issues if they do meet. That's it.

**Saturnblue:** Sorry, no pairing as of yet. I suck at romance.

**Toreen (guest):** Can you give me an example?

**Naginator:** They didn't know that Hari gave Naruto the Tigers. That will find out in the future, though.

**Now that's over and done with, on with the story. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 8: Ask Bear, Will Motivate**

Naruto wasn't in a good mood. The trek back to Tazuna's house was quiet; no attacks came much to everyone relief.

The reason why he was in a foul mood was because of one Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't know what the guy's problem was. He could feel the teen's glare on his back during the entire trip.

It was both annoying and infuriating. Sure, he was used to the villager's hate but this was a new experience for him.

Naruto sighed. He would just have to leave Sasuke be for now but he had this feeling that a confrontation with the Uchiha would be coming soon.

* * *

"Tsunami! I'm home!" bellowed Tazuna as he opened the door to his home with a bang.

A beautiful lady came out of the kitchen and gave Tazuna a hug. She looked over Tazuna's shoulder and eyed the Konoha shinobis with curiosity.

"I'm glad you made it back here safe and sound, father." said Tsunami with a smile. "Care to introduce us to our guests?"

Tazuna grinned and moved aside so his daughter could see his escort-slash-protector.

"These are the _uber_ powerful shinobis that protected me from Gato's hired thugs." Tazuna said proudly. "Especially the blonde gaki, he and his tigers save me from getting killed."

Hari gave the bridge builder a condescending smile before turning to the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Greeting, Tsunami-san." said Hari with a bow. "My name is Hari, a shinobi of Konoha, taking up the mission to protect your father from Gato while he finishes the bridge. These are the Genins that make up the team. The blonde one is Naruto, my apprentice. The one holding his ribs is Uchiha Sasuke. The pink-haired girl is Sakura. The two floating behind me are Kakashi, Team 7's sensei, and Sai, a fellow Genin."

"Nice to meet you all and thank you so much for protecting my father." Tsunami said with grateful smile on her face before turning her attention to the two floating shinobis behind Hari. "Is there anything you need to help these two?"

Hari nodded with a smile. "Do you have a room with some beds? I need to get these two comfortable." asked Hari as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the two unconscious shinobis floating behind him.

"We have a guest room upstairs," offered Tsunami, indicating the stairs to the second floor with her hand. "If you'll follow me, we can get them settled in and I'll start dinner immediately. You all must be hungry."

"Much appreciated, Tsunami-san. Lead the way please." said Hari before turning to Naruto. "Boya, I want you to scout the surroundings and make a perimeter. Leave some of your clones under disguise to ensure none of Gato's thugs sneaks up on the house. Understood?"

Naruto gave his sensei a two-finger salute. "No problem, sensei. I'll stay outside to maintain a patrol shift. Give me call if you need anything." the blonde exclaimed before turning on his heels and exited the house to do as he was instructed.

Hari was about to follow Tsunami to the second floor when Sasuke's voice halted him in his tracks.

"Why did the dobe get to do the patrol and I'm stuck here doing nothing?" said Sasuke with a frown on his face though he winced a bit when one of his ribs strained from breathing.

Hari released an exasperated sigh before giving Sasuke a condescending look.

"Listen here, gaki. You're injured. I just healed your two broken ribs, a concussion, and a lot of internal bleeding. Some of your organs are bruised, and you're low on chakra. You're telling me that I, a professional medic-nin, should let _you_, an injured Genin, scout outside?" Hari asked rethorically.

"I'm stronger than the, dobe." declared Sasuke, giving Hari a proud smirk before wincing again in pain. "I can do anything he can even if I'm injured."

Hari sighed before giving the boy a glare. "I suggest you retract that statement." said Hari before raising his hand and channeled a bit of lightning to drive his point home. "Either you do as I say and rest up for the day or I'm going to shock your ass that you would be twitching madly for a month. Take your pick, boya."

Sasuke glared but wisely heeded Hari's suggestion. Sakura was about to say something to defend her crush but a glare from Hari silenced her.

"If you think about opening that trap of yours, Haruno, I'm going to do twice as worst on you. For once in your life, try to curb that idiotic fan-girl attitude of yours before you get yourself killed. You're no longer a civilian, girl. If you want to survive in the shinobi world then I suggest that you get your priorities straight. Even if you have a lot of potential, you're giving kunoichis around the world a bad name."

"I'm not worried." declared Sakura before giving the Uchiha an adoring look. "Sasuke-kun will save me, I'm sure."

"Uh huh, and who's going to save him?" Hari pointed out, effectively shutting the girl up. "If you noticed what happened back during the fight with Zabuza, your _oh so precious_ Sasuke got trashed by a bunch of clones…clones that only have ten percent of Zabuza's true power. This is the reason why Genins are given a team so they could watch out for each other. If you joined the shinobi force for the sole reason of _wooing_ the Uchiha and make babies then I suggest that you quit while you're still breathing."

With that said, Hari left the two Genins who were deep in thought. Sasuke thinking how he could blackmail the Jounin to teach him everything he knew; while Sakura was digesting the revelation slapped on her face.

* * *

Hari was led by Tsunami to a spacious guest room. Thankfully, the room had two beds that would be perfect for his patients so he didn't need to conjure new ones.

Thanking the woman with a kind smile on his face, he immediately positioned the two in their respective beds. He needed to wake up Kakashin since there were some things they needed to talk about that couldn't wait.

Pulling out a vial of _Pepper-Up Potion_ from a storage scroll; he propped Kakashi's head and administered the elixir to expedite the healing process. Vanishing the vial, he fired a diagnostic spell at the Jounin and nodded when the man's chakra were at normal levels, not really back to its full capacity but enough for the man to wake up without side-effects.

After a few minutes of silence gathering his thoughts, Hari enervated the man to get the ball rolling.

"How are you feeling, Hatake?" asked Hari before conjuring a seat beside the man's bed and made himself comfortable.

Kakashi groaned a bit before sitting up on his bed. "A bit weak but good." Kakashi informed him before shooting Hari a glare. "That was uncalled for, you know."

"Huh?" was Hari's innocent reply with an eyebrow raised in question.

"You didn't have to electrocute _me_, you know." Kakashi accused causing Hari to frown.

"It is the least you deserved, Hatake, and you know it." Hari spat, a bit of anger making its way on his face.

"You still haven't forgiven me?" asked Kakashi, narrowing his eyes since he knew that what happened to him and Zabuza was deliberate on the black-haired Jounin's part.

"You don't have any _right_ to be forgiven, Kakashi." said Hari, his magic churning inside him, when he remembered the event that made him hate the man. "I still remember that time clearly. Naruto was about to be killed by a mob and you were there the whole time, watching. The boy wasn't wearing one of the shirts I charmed to whisk him to safety. You should have saved the boy. But no, you just watched and Naruto almost got killed. Your pathetic, Kakashi."

"You don't know what you're talking about." said Kakashi, turning his face away to avoid the angry and accusing glare of one Mahora Hari.

"Oh, I _know_ what I'm talking about, Kakashi." Hari said with a sneer. "You didn't know it but I also have a few of my…helpers watching the boy. He reported to me everything that happened that day. You were the one on guard duty to watch Naruto but you didn't do anything when the mob chased him all the way to the alley. If it wasn't for Fawkes, Naruto would have been dead."

Kakashi didn't say anything so Hari took the chance to continue.

"I know why you are being indifferent to Naruto, Kakashi. You _blame_ the boy for the death of the Yondaime, your sensei. If you take time to think with that _prodigious_ brain of yours, Naruto wasn't at fault. Hell, the boy was a few hours old when the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside him. How could _you_ blame a child who was forced into a life that could practically end up killing him? I don't see a powerful Konoha shinobi in front of me. I see a pathetic man that can't face up to his past and blamed a boy who had no fault over the death of your sensei." Hari spat with a vindictive gleam in his eyes, sparks of electricity were emanating from his body due to the rapid increase of magic in his system.

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Kakashi said with narrowed eyes and a sneer visible through his face mask. It was pure bravado of course since Hari was right. He _did_ blame Naruto for getting his sensei killed even if the boy had no hand in it. He couldn't deny that he used the boy as a scapegoat, and even now, he still was in his eyes.

"I'm bringing _this_ up because I want you to stay the hell away from Naruto. You forfeited the right to be his superior the day you left him to die." Hari said in a cold voice, channeling a bit of his magic into his intent to drive his point home. The result made the one-eyed Jounin shiver. "I am warning you; stick to the Uchiha that _you_ are so fond of and don't you even dare try to manipulate Naruto to your gains. You won't like what I'm going to do to you if you do so."

"Is that a threat?" Kakashi glared, inwardly scared at the glowing green eyes directed at him.

"Not a threat, but a _promise_ and I don't break my promises." Hari said simply, a stoic mask on his face. "Just stick to _your_ Uchiha and leave _my_ apprentice alone and we won't have any problem."

"This is _my_ mission, Mahora, so you have no say as to what I'm going to do with the team and this includes Naruto." Kakashi said smugly, thinking that he had a one up against the Tokubetsu Jounin.

Hari simply raised an eyebrow and pulled out the mission scroll the Hokage gave him. He tossed it to the Kakashi who caught it with ease and read its content. When he was done, Kakashi's eyes were wide in disbelief as he stared at the mission scroll in his hands.

"As you can _see_, Kakashi, I have a say, as you so delicately put it, in this mission. I can take over anytime if I see you doing something that would compromise the Genins, the client, and the mission. I will actively stay as support and will order Naruto to do the same. We won't fight your battles for you unless needed. So I'm warning you, Kakashi, don't tempt me. Don't put Naruto in a position that would harm him. I'll let you do your work and let me do mine. Kapish?"

"Fine." Kakashi spat before throwing back the scroll which Hari easily caught in a telekinetic hold and vanishing it back into his pocket. "What happened after _you_ shocked me unconscious?"

"Zabuza has an accomplice." reported Hari in a professional tone. He might be mad at Kakashi for almost leaving Naruto dead but he was always professional in a mission and didn't let emotions and petty grudges get in the way of its success. "Before I could capture him for interrogation, a shinobi wearing a Hunter-nin mask took him away. We can rule it either as an act of a Hunter-nin wanting to destroy Zabuza's body in private or an accomplice saving him from death. If you ask me, I choose the latter since Hunter-nins cut off the head of their target on the stop and burn the body to make sure that the secrets it holds stays secret."

Kakashi paused in thought before nodding in agreement to his comrade's assumption. "If it is a Hunter-nin then he or she would have destroyed Zabuza's body on the spot, that's a major rule for shinobis in that profession. I think we can rule out Zabuza's death since the Hunter-nin's actions are suspicious and above the norm. How long do you think he will recover from the wounds you inflicted on him?" the one-eyed Jounin asked with an intense look on his face. It would seem that a showdown was imminent between him and Zabuza; and this time it would be final.

"Hm…judging from what I did to the eyebrowless idiot, I'll say two weeks give or take a few days to heal properly and back to fighting strength; less if someone who is good at medical techniques can speed up the process." Hari said before grinning maliciously. "As to his injuries, there's chakra exhaustion, medium-level nerve and muscle damage, and add a few burns into the mix, maybe a broken jaw and a few teeth knocked loose because of the punch I gave him. In conclusion, if he has a medic at his disposal, then I'll give him a week of recovery tops."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. If there was one thing Mahora Hari was, it was thorough when it came to the human body. He was a professional medic-nin after all with a lot of achievements attached to that rank to boot.

"Then I better use the week to properly train my students then. What are you planning to do with Naruto for the week?" asked Kakashi who immediately raised his hand in surrender when Hari leveled him a glare. "I didn't mean it that way; I simply asked what task you would be delegating to your apprentice. From how he handled Zabuza's clones, he doesn't need additional training. With you around, I don't think Zabuza would be a problem. My Genin, however, needs to shape up."

"I'll ask him to keep a perimeter around the house, guard Tazuna while he works on the bridge and maybe lend a few shadow clones to speed up the process, and maybe do some reconnaissance to gather some intel about Gato's movements, and spar with him if he's done with all three of them." Hari ticked each one with a finger.

Kakashi's eye widened. "What have you been teaching the boy?" he asked in disbelief.

"To be honest with you, I _had_ to train Naruto from scratch." Hari answered bitterly. "Those Academy instructors of his taught him wrong. Wait, let me rephrase that; they didn't teach him anything. I have to use his ability to create shadow clones to teach him _everything_ that he _should_ have been taught at the Academy while I indulge the original with good old-fashioned physical training. Naruto's reputation as a stamina freak served him well. He survived a training regimen that would make Maito Gai blanch."

Kakashi shook his head though he couldn't deny the fact that the training regimen was effective seeing how the blonde fought with Zabuza's clones. He wondered if he could integrate Hari's training method to his Genin just to shape them up for the coming Chuunin Exams in a few months.

"You're sadistic, you know that right." Kakashi pointed out.

"Call it what you want." Hari said with a shrug. "As long as Naruto became what he is today while continuing to improve steadily at his own pace, I don't care what you say."

"Fine." Said Kakashi in defeat. "I can't fault you seeing how Naruto easily took out Zabuza's clones. Which reminds me, when can Naruto summon? Those were summon tigers he brought out earlier."

"That's for _me_ to know and for _you_ to never find out, Kakashi. Don't ask me question and I'll tell you no lies." Hari said vindictively before giving the one-eyed Jounin a calculating look and raising an eyebrow. "Out of curiosity, Kakashi, what have you been training your Genins?"

Kakashi blinked, surprised at the question. "Teamwork exercise, of course."

"And?" Hari asked, now both eyebrows raised.

"Um…that's it." Kakashi admitted, embarrassed.

"Kakashi, we have been with our respective Genin, or Genins in your case, for _almost_ half a year now. Don't tell me you didn't teach them anything else other than teamwork exercises." Hari inquired with an incredulous tone in his voice. He practically drilled teamwork into Naruto using clones, as well as himself, while keeping up with other aspects of training. "What have you _been_ doing, Kakashi?"

"Why don't you _try_ teaching a Genin team where one _thinks_ that the rest are inferior to him and _refuse_ to work with others, one Genin who didn't want to work because she _spends_ the whole day looking up to her prince charming, and the third Genin who has potential but _lacks_ the emotional quotient to get along with his teammate." Kakashi growled in frustration. "If they were your Genin team, what would you have done, huh?"

Hari stared at Kakashi for a second before answering. "I'll threaten them. If that doesn't work, I'll _shock_ them out of their system if they don't follow my orders. That's all there is to it." he answered with a grin on his face.

"Is electrocution _your_ answer to everything?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"No, but you can't deny the fact that _my_ method works. Look at Naruto and tell me that I'm wrong." Hari challenged.

"Point." was all Kakashi said before slumping down back into his bed with Hari giving him a smug grin.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi, Hari, and the rest of Team 7 was in the forest behind Tazuna's house to get started with some training to prepare them for the upcoming battle with Zabuza. Naruto was currently at the bridge with the client to assist in the construction with Hari informing the blonde that he could spare a hundred clones for the job, while practicing his Tiger Kung Fu on the side.

"Alright," said Kakashi to get things started. "We are going to start our training for the upcoming battle with Zabuza."

This surprised his team though Sai didn't show any visible response to the news, which wasn't really new since the teen seldom showed emotion and the only time he did, according to Sakura, was when Hari threatened him with a lightning bolt to the chest back in the Academy.

"Zabuza's dead, Kakashi-sensei." said Sakura, disbelief in her voice.

"No, he isn't." replied Kakashi, noticing the smirk on Sasuke's face. He inwardly sighed at the boy's actions. If he didn't change soon then his tenure as a shinobi would be quite short. "That is why you are going to learn a skill crucial to a shinobi's life."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked in excitement. Finally, he was going to learn something to get stronger.

"You're going to learn how to walk on trees." Kakashi answered with a smile.

"Uh, we already know how to climb trees, sensei." Sakura pointed out in total disbelief.

"Without using your hands?" asked Kakashi before walking towards a tree and walked up the trunk before stopping upside down on a branch. "See?"

"How did you do that?" demanded Sasuke before yelping in pain when a thin blast of electricity hit him on the rump.

"Have a little respect, gaki, or I'm going to use something stronger." Hari threatened before blowing off the smoke rising from his finger.

Sasuke growled but nodded. He really didn't want to get hit by something stronger. Everyone looked at Sakura to see if she would blow her top; but to everyone's amazement, she didn't show any reaction. Hari couldn't help but smirk.

"You didn't have to do that, you know?" Kakashi chided Hari who merely shook his head.

"I know but I don't tolerate disrespect. They are Genins and you are their sensei. It is important for them to respect you since that would cause problems in and out of missions." explained Hari who was comfortably leaning on a tree.

"Fine." Kakashi conceded with a shrug. "Anyway, you need to channel chakra to your feet to do what I did. You won't stick to the surface of the tree if you don't channel enough chakra and you will be blasted off the trunk if you use too much."

"How will this help get us stronger?" asked Sasuke, not really that happy that his sensei would be teaching him to climb trees instead of helping him get stronger. He decided to be polite, for now, since he didn't want to get hit by another blast of electricity from a certain trigger happy shinobi standing a few meters behind him.

Kakashi was about to answer but stopped when Hari raised his hand. He nodded indicating that Hari would take over the explanation.

"Channeling chakra is the basic of all shinobi arts, Sasuke-kun." Hari started his explanation; Team 7 turned their attention to him. "You need chakra to improve your physical strength, increase your speed, use jutsus, or even activate seals. However, it is necessary to learn _how_ to channel the _correct_ amount of chakra to be successful. This is where Tree Climbing comes in."

"How does climbing trees help, Hari-sensei?" asked Sakura respectfully, making Hari raise an eyebrow at her.

"Simple. The soles of our feet don't have any tenketsus so releasing chakra to there is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, without training. If you can master the tree climbing using nothing but chkara where you are required to channel specific amounts of chakra to your feet then you will have a solid control over it. With proper control, you can easily augment your strength and speed on the fly, as well as make it easier to learn jutsus, as well as allow you to use certain shinobi arts to devastating effect without wasting energy."

"He is correct." said Kakashi before giving Hari a thankful nod which was returned. He threw one kunai at the feet of each Genin. "Now, I want you to take a kunai and start climbing. If you think that you're going to fall, mark the spot then try again. This will help determine if you improved or not."

Team 7 nodded and started the exercise. It was a bit of a surprise that Sakura was the first one to get it.

"Look at me, Sasuke-kun." crowed Sakura in happiness as she sat on the branch halfway up the tree she was using. "This is easy."

Sakura's happiness waned when Sasuke shot her an angry glare, clearly jealous that someone got it before he did. Kakashi saw this and decided to butt in.

"Very good, Sakura." Kakashi complimented the girl. "But I suggest that you continue running up and down the tree to increase your stamina. Your low chakra reserves made it possible for you to control it easily. Continue the exercise to improve your stamina, as well as your chakra level."

Sakura nodded and smiled at her sensei before jumping down and starting all over again.

Hari saw the Sakura do the exercise again and he could clearly see the talent the girl was showing. He approached Kakashi to voice out his opinion.

"You have a potentially talented student there, Kakashi." said Hari while pointing at a clearly panting Sakura. "Even someone of her low chakra level couldn't hope to accomplish this exercise on the first try. With her ability to control chakra easily, she would become a talented kunoichi in the future. She could be a medic-nin to rival Tsunade or a Genjutsu Mistress to give Kurenai a run for her money."

"You're right." said Kakashi with a proud look on his face. "I just hope she continues to do so if she wants to get strong enough to survive. If only she can get rid of her fan girl side, her potential won't be wasted."

"Hm, have you ever considered letting Anko break her out of it?" Hari suggested causing Kakashi to look at him in disbelief.

"Are you crazy?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "She'll kill her. She hates fan girls more than she hates Orochimaru."

"I know." Hari agreed. "Among all the kunoichis in Konoha, only Anko has the drive to break a fan girl out of their funk. Just think about it, alright?"

"Fine." Kakashi conceded before frowning. Sasuke was stomping towards him with a glare. "Why aren't you doing the exercise, Sasuke?"

"This is stupid, Kakashi. I want you to teach me to get stronger, not to climb trees." demanded the Uchiha, gripping the kunai tightly that his knuckles almost became white.

Kakashi was about to retort but stopped when Hari raised a hand.

"Gaki, you _might_ want to rephrase that." Hari warned already going through hand seals and biting his thumb to draw a bit of blood. Kakashi immediately recognized the combination of seals and dreaded what his fellow shinobi had in mind.

"Butt out of this, idiot. I'm talking to Kakashi and not you." growled Sasuke which solidified Kakashi's assumption that the boy would be taught a lesson he would _never_ forget.

"Well, if you don't climb your tree then I'll give you a little…incentive." Hari declared with a sadistic gleam in his eyes. Slamming his hand to the ground, he shouted.

"_**Summoning Technique: Bash Brothers." **_Three large bears, clearly more than 6-feet in height, carrying clubs materialized in a puff of smoke.

"Hey guys, I have a job for you." Hari greeted the trio happily.

"**Oi, Hari, you bastard. Why haven't you called us out? Do you know how bored we were?"** one of the bears sporting a mohawk shouted, brandishing the club threateningly.

"Mah, mah, settle down Kuro. I was very busy that's all. Besides, I called you and your brothers out for a simple job."

"**A job you say? What's this job, Hari-san?"** respectfully asked one of the bears wearing a pair of glasses. But despite his somewhat respectful address, the club he was slapping on his palm said otherwise.

"This is going to be a very fun job for you and your brothers Karo. I want you, Taro, and Karo to motivate Sasuke here," Hari pointed to the clearly afraid Uchiha heir. "To learn the Tree Climbing exercise."

"**Really?"** Taro, a bear wearing a white scarf around his neck, asked. **"Why didn't he want to learn it?"**

"He said it was for the weak." Hari said simply.

"**We'll take the job."** said the Bash Brothers in unison before advancing on the Uchiha with their clubs raised high.

Hari and Kakashi couldn't help but gawk at the speed the Uchiha displayed as he ran towards the tree and started sprinting to the top. Both of them were sure that it was pure speed and no chakra added into the mix.

* * *

**End of chapter 8. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow. I woke up this morning and checked my email to see around 200+ new mails, and roughly one third of those emails were reviews. Woooot. Thank you!**

**Here's the next chapter but, again, let me address some reviews first.**

**Akua:** Point taken. Over-bashing tend to get boring if done all the time. I should know because I practically read almost all the bashing fics here in FF. Anyway, I can't answer some of your questions because that would ruin the surprise. Ku ku ku ku.

**Knightblazer85:** I stand corrected. Thank you for pointed it out. You know, I wonder why I didn't check Hiruzen's age at Wikia…or maybe I didn't do so because most of the characters there didn't have their corresponding ages mentioned.

**Eligoraym: **Yes, I love sadistic Harry/Hari too!

**Droga1:** Theoretically, Genjutsu shouldn't work on Harry/Hari because of his Occlumency shields. However, illusions should work if it is powerful enough to bypass his shields (which is very possible since Genjutsu works by invading a target's chakra and inducing the illusion that way). If you ask me, Genjutsu would still work on Harry/Hari though with some difficulty…maybe A to S-rank Genjutsus.

**puma1sunfire:** To be honest, I am not going to over-bash. If you noticed, the current bashing (if you call it that) is just a direct result of Sasuke's attitude. I might do something about that attitude of his. Besides, I am somewhat bored in making Sasuke the bad guy all the time. Ku ku ku ku ku

**Acaila:** No, it is not a complete story, I have 15 chapters though I compressed it to 12 chapters because some parts were just plain ludicrous. To answer your other question, yes, I am going to be continuing in this story due to popularity and interest. And No, my stories aren't abandoned. I just done have the inspiration to continue them as of yet. I already have their plot written down, I just don't have the drive to write them. Maybe in the future.

**She Who Walks With Death: **Thank you for defending my story. Mwah!

**Vain Gloriousness: **Thank you for pointing that out. Already corrected that error! Mwah!

**Reishin Amara:** Much how I love to do that, I must decline the opportunity. I don't want to corrupt minors. Ku ku ku ku

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Want to Join the Family?**

After motivating Sasuke enough to continue with the Tree Climbing exercise (thanks to the Bash Brother's of course), Hari left the clearing and went deep into the forest to do what he planned to do ever since he stepped foot into Wave Country – find the reason why his magic was resonating with something or someone.

As he neared Wave Country with Naruto, Hari couldn't help but feel that something was prodding on his magical core. It wasn't malicious so he ignored it at first to take care of the matter at hand – bailing out Team 7 and Kakashi from Zabuza's clutches.

Unlike sensing magic when it was in the air or when used in a spell or ritual; Hari could feel that someone's magic was reaching out to him, beckoning for him to find the source.

It was annoying and maddening – the former because he couldn't focus well and the latter because he couldn't get it out of his mind.

The night he came to Wave, Hari meditated on the feeling and was able to determine that someone in the island contained magic. He didn't know who, he didn't know where. All he knew that the person existed and that person's magic longed for a companion.

This was the reason why Hari was currently on a hunt.

If he was successful and found the source of the magic then the Mahora clan would have a new member added to its roster.

After a few hours of scouting the island, easily pinpointing the location since it was closer, he finally found the source of the magical resonance. He stood on a branch overlooking a spacious clearing where a person was picking herbs by the dozen. He frowned since the aura he was sensing was familiar. It took him quite a while to finally realize who that aura belonged to and the revelation made his eye widen in surprise.

The aura belonged to the Hunter-nin that rescued Zabuza.

Face grim, Hari fired a diagnostic spell from his perch and hit the unmasked Hunter-nin from behind. His eyes widened a bit when the person stiffened when the spell hit. It would seem that the person could somewhat sense magic and couldn't deny the fact that this particular skill could be improved with a little bit of training.

The result of the diagnostic spell was an eye-opener for one Mahora Hari.

The boy; yes the person was a boy, had a magical resonance of a third year student at Hogwarts. He didn't know why but the boy had magic in his veins and had the capability to use spells with the proper training.

The boy wouldn't grow as powerful as he was but it was more than what the wizarding world back in Britain could produce.

Since he didn't want to lose this chance of adding someone to his clan and letting magic flourish in this world, he dropped down from the branch he was standing on and walked towards the clearing where his quarry was picking up herbs.

"Hello there." Hari called out as he entered the clearing. His entrance and greeting startled the boy and Hari could see the wariness in his eyes. He mentally grinned since it was obvious that the boy, no, teen was trained as a shinobi. If he was to hazard a guess, the teen's shinobi trainer was Momochi Zabuza.

"Um…hi." said the teen with a smile, though Hari could see that it was somewhat faked.

"What are you doing out here, gaki? It's not safe to be out with Gato on the lose." said Hari, pretending not to know the teen.

"I'm picking up some herbs. My uncle is sick you see and he needed these to get well." said the teen as he hefted the basket he was carrying. "I know this might sound rude but are you a shinobi?"

Hari chuckled.

"What gave me away?" he asked with a grin which the boy mimicked.

The teen pointed at the hitai-ate sewed on Hari's sash.

"That." was the reply.

"Oh! Hehehe. Yeah, I'm a shinobi hired by Tazuna to protect him from Gato while he finishes that bridge of his." answered Hari. No use lying since the teen already knew about it.

"I see." The teen said with a nod before giving him a speculative look. "You look very strong."

"Strong enough." answered Hari with a dismissive wave of his hand. He decided to go for gold. "I hope you won't take this the wrong way but…how is Zabuza?"

The teen tensed and jumped back before drawing out a senbon needle from his basket, "How did you know?" the teen asked tersely, form on the defensive.

"Your aura," replied Hari, completely at ease. At the questioning look on the boy's face, he decided to explain. "You see, I have this…bloodline that gives me the ability to sense a person's aura. You have the same aura as the Hunter-nin that took Zabuza away. Anway, you might want to put that senbon away. I didn't come here to fight. I simply came to talk."

The teen studied him for a few seconds before nodding; lowering the hand holding the lone senbon though Hari could see that it was properly held, ready for anything in case he attacked.

"Why did you come?"

"As I said, I simply came to talk. Do you mind?" asked Hari, raising a hand making the boy tense.

"Mind what?" asked the teen, eyes not straying from Hari's raised hand.

"This." replied Hari before he conjured a table and two comfortable couches with a wave of his hand. There was a tea set on top of the table, cup steaming with hot tea.

"H-how?" the teen asked in shock while looking at the comfortable furniture that appeared before his very eyes. It was unbelievable.

"I'll explain in a bit. This is the reason why I want to talk to you. Now, let's make ourselves comfortable." invited Hari as he took a seat and gestured for the teen to take the other. Said teen followed while keeping a close eye on him.

"So what do you want to talk about?" asked the teen, looking at the steaming cup of tea in front of him with a wary expression on his face.

"Don't worry, it isn't poisoned. If I had plans on harming you then I would have done so with ease. As I said, I simply came to talk." Hari promised with a smile. "Anyway, my name is Hari, Mahora Hari. Head of the Mahora Clan of Konoha."

The teen tensed upon hearing his name. It would seem that his reputation was still fresh in everyone's mind.

"I see that you've heard of me." said Hari. "May I know your name, gaki?"

"Haku."

"No last name?"

"No. I'm an orphan. Zabuza raised me."

"Ah. That would explain it I guess considering that you have an air of a trained shinobi around you. Anyway, the reason why I want to talk is because you have an ability similar to my own and I want to invite you to Konoha to join my clan."

"Ability?" Haku asked immediately, not knowing what this person was talking about.

"The ability to use a completely different source of energy called…Magic." Hari said with a grin.

"Magic isn't real." Haku stated with disbelief on his face.

"If magic isn't real then how come you are currently sitting down on a conjured chair in front of a conjured table, and drinking conjured tea. If that isn't magic then I don't know what is. Besides, did you feel any chakra when I created them?" Hari asked rhetorically.

Haku shook his head. "No. I didn't sense you using chakra when you made them and I am a sensor so sensing chakra is my forte."

Hari nodded before continuing. Not only did Haku contain magic, he was a sensor too.

"You see, Haku, you are the first person I encountered in this world that has magic. I've spent years looking for people with the same ability but you are the first. That is why I want to adopt you into my clan and train you in its use." Hari said with a smile on his face, a smile that grew when he saw the confusion in Haku's face. He didn't know why but he was enjoying this conversation.

"World? What are you talking about?" Haku asked incredulously. "Besides, we are enemies. Why do you want to do this?"

Hari waved his hand dismissively.

"Meh, enemies now, friends later – that's how the shinobi world operates, boya. Besides, we are only enemies because your boss hired you to kill Tazuna. If it weren't for our respective missions, we would have no quarrels with each other. Anyway, to prove my point..." Hari raised his right hand and flicked it, causing his Holly wand to appear on his grip. He twirled it around and offered it to Haku, handle first.

Haku looked at the offered wand with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. "What's that?" he asked in question.

"This, my dear Haku, is a wand. It is used by those with magic to cast spells." Hari informed the teen. "Now, I want you to take this wand so I can _show_ you that _you_ have magic."

Haku nodded and took the wand. When his hand grasped the handle, gold and red sparks flew from the tip, astounding the teen.

Hari saw that it wasn't as good as the reaction he got when he first laid his hand on it back at Olivander's but it was good enough to determine the strength of Haku's magic. He did the same test with Naruto during one of their training spars; but unfortunately, the blonde didn't have a speck of magic in his body.

"Now, I want you to raise that wand and visualize a light forming on its tip. When you have that image firmly in your mind, I want you to say _'Lumos'_." instructed Hari with a smile.

Haku nodded and raised the wand, following Hari's instruction.

"_**Lumos."**_ A small ball of light appeared at the tip of the wand making Hari laugh in excitement.

"That proves it. You have magic, Haku, and a powerful one at that." Hari declared with a smile on his face.

Haku smiled but frowned when he realized something. He handed the wand back to Hari who took it curiously.

"I'm sorry Hari-san, but I can't take you up on your offer. I don't want to abandon, Zabuza-sama even if it is to learn something a part of me." Haku said with an apologetic smile on his face.

Hari grew thoughtful for a few seconds before cheering up.

"So you're not going to accept my offer because you want to stay with Zabuza-_chan_, correct?" Hari asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Haku bristled at the suffix added to his master's name but kept his cool.

"Yes."

"If that is the case then let's go meet Zabuza so I can tell him of my offer. If he accepts then the both of you will be joining my clan. Even if he cannot do magic, he is basically your guardian so he would be welcome to join if he wanted to." Hari declared with a grin on his face.

"Are you sure?" Haku asked with a bit of hope in his eyes.

"Very sure." replied Hari with a smile. "I am a clan head after all, and the Hokage trusts me. Don't worry about it. Just take me to Zabuza and I'll do the rest."

* * *

Haku guided Hari to a secluded cottage somewhere in the forested area of Wave where Zabuza was currently recuperating. When he got there, Zabuza was starting at Haku in disbelief and Hari with a hint of fear.

"Haku," voiced Zabuza in a deceptively calm voice though it was quite obvious that it was strained. "Can you _please_ tell me why you brought _him_ to our secret hideout?"

"He had something to say to you, Zabuza-sama." said Haku with a bow. Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow at that which almost made Hari burst out laughing.

"And what does the _Trigger Happy Sadist of Konoha_ want to talk to me about?" Zabuza addressed a clearly amused Hari.

"Before we go into that, let me make myself comfortable." said Hari before doing what he did in the clearing when he met Haku – conjured some furniture so he wouldn't have to go through with this discussion standing up.

"How in Kami did you do that?" shouted Zabuza as he switched his gaze between an amused Hari to the tea set that appeared with the rest of the furniture.

"Magic…and is the reason why I wanted to talk to you." said Hari before launching into his discussion earlier with Haku about adopting her to his clan due to his ability to use magic, extending the offer to Zabuza to join his clan, as well as some minor demonstration of magic and letting Haku do the Lumos charm again with his Holly wand to prove his point.

"And what is your Hokage's take on this?" asked Zabuza with pure disbelief on his face. "I don't think amy sane Kage would just let a missing-nin of my caliber waltz into Konoha."

"I'm not sure yet but let me ask him." said Hari as he conjured a pen and paper before penning a letter explanation the situation to the old leader. When he was done, he checked it to make sure that everything was written before calling his familiar. "Fawkes!"

Zabuza and Haku was surprised when a beautiful red bird appeared in a burst of fire and landed on Hari's shoulder.

"All magicals have a familiar of their own. This is Fawkes the Phoenix, my beloved familiar and at the moment, messenger bird extraordinaire." He said cheekily causing Fawkes to whack him on the head with his wing. "Sorry. Anyway, can you get this to the Hokage and wait for his reply then bring it back to me?"

Fawkes gave an affirmative trill before grabbing the letter with his beak and flaming out of the room.

"Since we are waiting for the Hokage's reply, let me see to those wounds of yours." said Hari with a glint in his eyes that made Zabuza fear for his life.

* * *

To pass the time, he healed Zabuza's wounds (which Hari was the reason of) and had a nice talk with him and Haku over tea. Hari explained to them about magic in general without getting into important details, and astounding the two with magical feats that left them excited and looking forward to the future.

It was half an hour later that Hari received a reply from the Hokage via Fawkes. He opened the letter after thanking his familiar before reading the missive from his leader.

_Hari-kun,_

_Congratulations in finding someone who can do magic. I approve of adding Haku to the rolls of your clan and I want you to check their thoughts to see if they harbor ill-feelings towards Konoha. _

_However, we might want to discuss Zabuza's addition to your clan in detail. Aside from being a missing-nin, he is a Mist Shinobi and the Yondaime Mizukage might not like having such a powerful swordsman added to Konoha's ranks. _

_Anyway, show this letter to Kakashi and the guards when you return so Zabuza can enter the village without problems. Make sure that you bring them to me as soon as possible so we can hammer out the details. If you can, try to bring them here using your unique form of transportation to avoid broadcasting the fact that we have a missing-nin inside our walls._

_Again, congratulations and __**please**__ refrain from bringing any more dangerous missing-nins to Konoha. I don't think my heart can take any more of these shocks even if you did give me a much longer lease in life._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Sarutobi Hiruzen_

_Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. _

_PS: Can you have one of your elves send me some of those lovely éclairs you brought last time? I had a sweet-tooth all of a sudden._

Hari laughed at the post-script and immediately called Doppler, his personal elf, and instructed him to bring a batch of éclairs to the Hokage as soon as possible. He also asked the elf to tell the cook to prepare three plates of dinner for him and the two shinobis since they would be talking for a while.

When the elf left, Hari looked up to see Zabuza and Haku stare at the spot where his elf was standing, prompting him to explain.

"That was a house elf. A magical servant, of sorts." said Hari with an amused expression on his face. He handed the letter to a clearly amazed Zabuza. "Here is the letter from the Hokage."

Zabuza took the letter and started to read. Haku peered over his master's shoulder to do the same After finishing the letter, both were looking at him with awe and relief before being almost jumping out of their seats when three plates of food materialized on the table in front of them. Hari stopped himself from laughing out loud.

"Since it's getting late, why don't we enjoy dinner and I can tell you everything you need to know about the Mahora clan and the benefits you will be getting if you join." Hari suggested.

The two didn't say anything but agreed. After all, why turn down food when they had to survive on small rations during their tenure as missing-nins.

* * *

It was two hours past dinner that Hari made his way back to Tazuna's house after securing an agreement with Zabuza and Haku to double-cross Gato by paying the two with the sum that Gato owed them and then some.

However, that plan changed immediately when Hari came back from scouting Gato's hideout with Haku. After explaining to the eyebrowless missing-nin that Gato was planning to betray them during the battle at the bridge, Zabuza immediately agreed to double-cross Gato at no extra cost.

The only condition Zabuza demanded was the freedom to ransack Gato's base for anything valuable. Hari counter-offered that he would allow Zabuza to do so if all shinobi-related items would be shared by everyone in the Mahora Clan (Hari, Naruto since he was Hari's apprentice, Zabuza, and Haku – the latter two was included since they were going to be legally adopted into the clan when they get back to Konoha) which Zabuza agreed to since he would still have access to them afterwards.

Hari had to call Doppler to create a new library and transfer all the shinobi-related items into it. He also instructed the elves to place a temporary ward since he would create a more permanent protection when he gets back.

When Hari entered the house, he could immediately feel the tension in the air.

"Anything I should know about?" Hari asked Kakashi with curiously after seating himself beside the Jounin.

"Your apprentice snapped when Inari said something that made him go on a ranting spree with the boy." Kakashi informed him.

"What did the emo _prince_ say?" asked Hari with a sigh. He labeled Inari as the _emo prince_ when the boy went all doom and gloom on them last night. When Kakashi asked why, Hari informed him that Sasuke was the _emo king_. The one-eyed Jounin couldn't refute that so he just agreed before going back to his reading.

"Inari told Naruto that he didn't know what real suffering was." Kakashi said simply making Hari wince. After all, if someone knew suffering, it was definitely Naruto since he was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

"Where's my apprentice now?" Hari asked, wanting to get to Naruto so he could calm the boy down. If there was one thing that Naruto had in spades, it was temper. He didn't get angry that often thanks to the meditation training he went through but he still had his moments if something sparked his temper to life.

"He didn't say where he was going only that he was going to do something to let his temper run its course."

"Ah, if I know the gaki then he should be demolishing something right now." Hari said sagely before standing up. "If you'll excuse me, I better do damage control before he decides to level the entire island. Anyway, Kakashi. Don't go to bed yet since we are going to discuss something concerning this mission."

"What about?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Later. Let me deal with my wayward student before we'll talk. Ciao!" said Hari before disappearing with a loud crack, following Naruto's chakra trail.

* * *

It took two hours for Hari to return alone. He left Naruto back at the clearing where he met Haku since the boy wanted to sleep outside tonight. Hari immediately agreed since Naruto had always loved nature and it had a calming effect on the boy.

Hari immediately invited Kakashi outside to brief the man on everything that happened starting from his meeting with Haku and eventually with Zabuza. This surprised the one-eyed man at first but eventually believed him after reading the Hokage's letter. It was real because no one could replicate the chakra signature on the Hokage's seal that the letter had in full display and no one from Konoha was stupid enough to do so.

When Hari asked how the training of Team 7 went, Kakashi launched into a full description of the somewhat _humorous_ training program after the Mahora left. To put it simply, Hari laughed himself hoarse when the Jounin informed him that Sasuke learned the Tree Climbing exercise in a span of two hours thanks to his bears. However, the Uchiha teen had to be clobbered three times and knocked out at least once before that happened. The latter of which took place when Sasuke decided to take down the bears who gave him a hell of an ass-whooping.

When Hari got himself under control, Kakashi informed him that Sakura asked for more training. This surprised the wizard-shinobi a bit since he didn't know that the pink-haired Genin changed for the better because of his…talk with the girl though Kakashi still wanted Sakura to have a session with Anko to make sure that the change stays for good. Hari promised that he would talk to the snake-using kunoichi when he gets back to the village.

* * *

Two days before Team Mahora and Team Kakashi was to go to the bridge for the scheduled _confrontation_ with Zabuza and Haku that Hari had an unwelcome visitor to his relaxation on the roof of Tazuna's house. Sasuke practically cornered him though Hari knew that he could just disappear anytime he wished but decided against it since he wanted to humor the boy.

"What do you want, gaki?" Hari asked in a bored voice.

"I want you to drop the dobe as your apprentice and take me on." demanded Sasuke.

Hari raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Give me one good reason why I should drop Naruto and take you as my apprentice? Besides, you already have a sensei and having a team is a boon to future missions." He pointed out.

"The dobe isn't worth your time and I, as an Uchiha, would be more worth it to train."

"Not good enough reason, gaki." said Hari, inwardly smirking when Sasuke's face turned red in anger.

"I suggest that you do as I tell you to or I will tell the council that you refused to train me." Sasuke threatened, an evil smirk adorning his face.

Hari raised an eyebrow before deciding to get this boy on the straights.

"Let me tell you something, Uchiha Sasuke." Hari all but growled. "I am a Tokubetsu Jounin of the Leaf and the head of the Mahora clan. I have a seat in the shinobi council so you have no right to demand anything from me. Only the Hokage can demand anything from me and I can't and won't refuse him. If you think that you can sick the civilian council on me then you're quite mistaken, boya. They have no authority over shinobi related matter and they are only there as an advisor to the Hokage as the rest of the shinobi council. You, who's not even the head of the Uchiha clan since Itachi had that right, cannot demand anything from me. I suggest you wise up before you end up getting killed because of that bloated ego of yours."

"You will train me now or you'll regret it." Sasuke snarled, eyes taking a dangerous glint that Hari immediately noticed.

"No thanks."

Sasuke couldn't take no for an answer so he decided doing hand seals to launch a fireball but Hari was already leagues ahead of him. Before Sasuke could even complete half of the seals, Hari threw out his hand and sent out a blast of lightning that made the boy scream making him fly back from the force of the attack, falling from the roof and landing on the ground below with a resounding thud.

* * *

"You didn't have to injure him you know." said Kakashi while glaring at Hari who just finished treating an unconscious Sasuke. The impact with the ground caused a few bruises, as well as a dislocated. He also had a bit of a burn where the lightning hit him.

"No I didn't but the boy had to learn, Kakashi." Hari said, matching Kakashi's glare with one of his own. "I don't know how your team works but I don't like a Genin telling me what to do and demanding things from me or even threatening me to bring it up with the council. I am a clan head for a reason Hatake, and I am a Tokubetsu Jounin. I earned my rank through hard work and I did it all on my own. I don't want some two bit snot telling me what to do."

"Why won't you just train him a little bit? I'm sure Naruto would understand. You did help my team with their chakra control." Kakashi pointed out since having Hari train his team would help them grow stronger since he couldn't deny the fact that the Mahora clan head's training method was much better than his own.

Hari shook his head in disbelief, knowing what Kakashi's game was.

"You know, Hatake, I think you have been blinded by fame so much that you just ignore the time-bomb that is Uchiha Sasuke." That statement made Kakashi wince which Hari easily saw. It was true after all since the boy has never been the same since the Uchiha Massacre. "Besides, you're his _sensei_ so you _teach_ him. If I remember correctly, you practically demanded from the Hokage that you want the Uchiha to be placed on your team since only _you_ could _teach_ him when he activates his Sharingan. I pick who I chose to train, Hatake, and I won't abandon Naruto for someone who doesn't even appreciate what people are giving him on a silver platter. I helped your Genins with their chakra control because I don't want to see them dead during a mission because of your ineptitude."

"You do know that I'm your superior, right?" Kakashi pointed out, trying to use his rank against his fellow shinobi. "I can easily command you to train them."

Hari raised an eyebrow before releasing a cold chuckle.

"Superior in rank maybe but not superior in status, Hatake. I am a clan head and you're not. I may be only a Tokubetsu Jounin and you're an Elite but that is nothing compared to what we are really capable of." Hari pointed out coldly, eyes glowing with barely-suppressed power. "You know that you're nothing against me if not for that transplanted eye of yours and even then, you're going to have some problems. I didn't earn my status as an A-rank shinobi just by sitting around, you know. Heck, you can't even beat Zabuza in a straight fight since you didn't bother to continue training, resulting in your skill back when you were still ANBU to dwindle to almost nothing. What made you think you can stand up against me?" said Hari with an evil grin on his face which made Kakashi wince. "I suggest that you set your priorities straight, Kakashi, or I'll straighten it for you."

Was all he said before leaving the room with an unconscious Genin and a thoughtful Kakashi who couldn't refute any of the words thrown at him by the lone Mahora.

Everything Hari said was true after all.

* * *

The battle at the bridge was anticlimactic to say the least.

As agreed, Zabuza and Haku met Hari, Naruto, and Team 7 on the bridge under the mist that the swordsman created to mask their presence. There was a mock battle of sorts to keep up appearances since they needed Gato and his thugs to reveal themselves when the midget though that everyone was tired from the battle. Kakashi went against Zabuza while Sasuke and Sai went against Haku. Naruto and Sakura stayed behind with Hari beside Tazuna to protect him while the 'fight' was underway.

Of course, Kakashi and Zabuza was laying it on thick since they weren't really serious about the battle but Sasuke seemed to have a vendetta against Haku and chose to go all out.

Eventually, Haku got bored by the display and turned the Uchiha into a pincushion and putting him in a death-like state that could be removed later. Sai, who knew of the plan, simply stayed out of the way doing many of his artistic drawings that Hari commissioned to buy from the Genin for his clan house since it was beautifully done.

It was a few minutes later that they heard a clapping from behind the mist when Zabuza pretended to be down for the count. Gato came and mocked Zabuza since he couldn't defeat a measly shinobi of the Leaf.

Using the Gato as the pre-arranged signal, everyone (except for Sakura who was beside Tazuna and Sasuke who was unconcious) attacked Gato and his hired thugs, catching them completely by surprise.

To describe the scene, it was pure slaughter.

Zabuza and Kakashi barreled through the thugs using zanbatou and kunai. The duo didn't bother to knock their enemies out, they just sliced with reckless abandon.

Naruto used his clones to amazing effect and overran the thugs using sheer numbers and knocking them unconscious with accurate strikes to the back of their heads. Thanks to his studies in human anatomy, he could easily land a knockout blow without killing them.

Sai used many of his ink animal drawings by bringing them to life and had them attack the thugs. Birds, tigers, and wolves made of ink descended on the helpless thugs and attacking them for all their worth.

Hari was more visual with his display since he started raining down lightning on the thugs, cackling all the while as screams of being electrocuted echoed throughout the bridge.

It was over in five minutes with Gato soiling his pants when five fully trained shinobis surrounded him.

After tying him up and leaving him to the tender mercies of the people of Wave, a party ensued that was fun for everyone, well except for Sasuke who was currently unconscious.

* * *

The days that followed was boring, to say the least. Since their contract stated that they would need to wait for Tazuna to finish the bridge, they had to stay in Wave country until it was done.

Hari tasked Naruto to lend a hundred or so of his clones to get the job done faster. Since Naruto didn't have anything better to do, he went to the bridge everyday and lend a hundred of his clones while enjoying a few mock spars with some of them.

Tazuna was thrilled at the sizable manpower he now had under his disposal and even voiced out his idea in hiring Naruto on future construction jobs. Hari simply told the man to pass a request to the Hokage if such an occasion did come up.

Kakashi took Team 7 out into the woods to train for the rest of their stay in Wave Country. Kakashi was adamant in doing his best with his team since he now had two students worth teaching – Sai and Sakura, as well as Sasuke since his Sharingan was activated when Haku placed him under a death-like state.

Naruto told his sensei that he vowed to avoid using jutsus in front of the Uchiha since he wouldn't put it past the boy to copy any techniques he came across. After telling Haku about it since the two became fast friends, the new wizard-in-training also promised the same thing with him telling Zabuza in the process.

Naruto and Haku spent their free time training and sparing in the woods behind Tazuna's house with Hari erecting a ward to repel everyone except for the two, him, and Zabuza. This sparked an idea in Hari's mind that he would be bringing up to the Hokage when they got back to Konoha.

Hari and Zabuza raided Gato's hideout two days after bringing down the midget businessman.

Hari noted that Gato was a greedy pig since he couldn't even trust a bank to safeguard his money and valuables. Everything was stored inside a spacious vault behind a life-size painting of the midget. They didn't bother to crack the code of the vault, they simply destroyed it – Hari superheating it using lightning and Zabuza cooled it down using water jutsus. The door simply cracked and disintegrated after that.

Hari could have easily used an unlocking charm to open the vault but he found it too boring.

After counting out the amount of money in the vault, which was around 100,000,000 ryo; Hari prompted Zabuza to split it, half going to the people of Wave since the country needed the money to get back on its feet.

Considering that he was going to be part of the Mahora clan, which Hari discretely told the missing-nin that it was the richest clan in Konoha, Zabuza had no problems parting with half of the money.

Besides, it was the clan head's job to provide for the rest of the clan, and in this case, Hari shouldering everything for the missing-nin. Hari had no qualms with that since he was planning to contract Zabuza into teaching him about swords since he found zanbatous to be very intriguing.

He already had a design for zanbatou in his head that he would be forwarding to a blacksmith he knew to craft the thing then he would heavily enchant it. The thought of wielding a heavily-enchanted sword made him cackle evilly. He couldn't wait to get his hands on it.

When Hari asked Zabuza why he needed so much money in the first place, the Demon of the Mist finally relented that he wanted to use the money to fund the resistance movement to topple the Yondaime Mizukage.

Zabuza may be a lot of things but he was very loyal to the village he grew up in; which was a quality Hari prized among others.

Hari promised to help Zabuza with his goal in freeing Kirigakure no Sato from the hands of the tyrant bloodline-hater though he needed to be discreet about it since Konoha couldn't afford a war at this time, or _any_ time for that matter.

Aside from money, they also found a stash of shinobi weapons and jutsu scrolls in the many shelves inside the vault. The scrolls would be placed inside their new shinobi library and the weapons in the Mahora clan armory which Hari would need to set up once he gets back to Konoha.

Thankfully, Hari had a dozen of Naruto's storage scroll in handy so they were able to pack everything away. It took them two hours to have everything ready for transport.

Before leaving, Hari amused himself by calling down a lightning bolt from the clear sky that disintegrated Gato's mansion, cackling all the while. Zabuza saw everything and vowed never to get on Hari's bad side if he could help it.

His soon-to-be clan head was not only sadistic, but destructive as well.

It was a week after the battle that Tazuna was able to finish the bridge and there was supposed to be a party afterwards. The Konoha group declined since they were away from the village for almost three weeks now and the mission parameters was only for two weeks.

After giving Kakashi the money for an A-rank mission (Hari told Tazuna not to inform the rest of his team of the money that Zabuza shared to Wave after emptying Gato's stash), they left but not before Hari overhearing that the name of the bridge which made him bellow in laughter.

The Great Naruto Bridge indeed.

* * *

Considering that they had no civilians traveling with them, it only took the group two days to reach Konoha at chakra-enhanced speeds. It would have been sooner but they had to rest for an hour or two to let Sakura catch her breath. Despite the training she went through, her stamina was still quite low compared to the rest. Even Sasuke's stamina was better than average.

There was a brief hold-up at the bridge since they were in the company of a notorious A-rank criminal and the guards were hesitant to let them in with Zabuza in tow. Hari solved that problem by showing them the Hokage's letter.

Again, the chakra-laced seal made everything legal and binding.

Kakashi dismissed his team with Hari doing the same to Naruto, telling the blonde to meet him back in the Mahora compound for a meeting. With their respective charges properly dismissed, the quartet made their way to the Hokage's office to give their respective reports, as well as negotiating for the new comers to be inducted into the village rosters.

The one-eyed Jounin gave his report to the Hokage with Hari providing some input to put everything into perspective. After the monologue, the Hokage warned Kakashi to shape up Sasuke or he would be placed on probation and commanded the man to send Sasuke to Inoichi as soon as possible for a psyche evaluation. They couldn't deny that Sasuke was a loose cannon waiting to blow.

Kakashi was dismissed afterwards leaving Hari and his soon-to-be adopted clan members behind.

"So, Hokage-sama, do we have any problems regarding the adoption of these two into my clan?" Hari asked causing Zabuza and Haku to tense.

"None but there are a few conditions regarding Zabuza since he is a notorious missing-nin and all." Sarutobi declared with a puff on his pipe.

"Those are?" Hari asked curiously.

"We'll get to that in a bit. But first, the papers for the adoption of Haku into the Mahora clan are ready. All it needs are both of your signatures." said the Hokage before pushing out a document with all of Haku's information written on it. "Please sign on the dotted line."

Hari nodded and conjured a pen and signing it before handing the pen to Haku who did the same.

Sarutobi double-checked the document before giving Haku a smile.

"Congratulations, _Mahora_ Haku. You are now a part of the Mahora Clan with Hari as your clan head. He will teach you about the laws and take care of all of your needs as his responsibility. Do you want to be a shinobi as well?"

"I have a proposition for that, Hokage-sama." Hari interrupted before Haku could answer. Everyone looked at him curiously. "I propose for Mahora Haku to be given the rank of Genin and placed under my team. I know that the Chuunin exam is going to be held here in four months. This will give me enough time to look for a third member to complete the team so they could take the exams."

"That is a good idea," agreed Sarutobi before looking at Haku. "What do you think, Haku?"

Haku smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I have no problems, Hokage-sama. Hari-sama's idea has merit."

"Hari-sama?" Hari asked with an amused smile on his face.

"You are my clan head now so it's only right to address you as such." Haku declared, daring his new clan head to deny him that right.

Hari sighed when he saw that Haku wouldn't give in to dropping the honorifics.

"Fine. Do as you like, Haku. Anyway, what about Zabuza?" he asked the Hokage who was looking quite amused over their bickering.

"For Zabuza, he would be adopted into the Mahora clan as a branch member. This is non-negotiable because he doesn't have the same bloodline as you and Haku. Being a branch member, he has limited say to the running of the clan but he still gets full benefits of your protection." explained Sarutobi before raising an eyebrow at Zabuza to see if he had any objections.

Zabuza shook his head in negative to answer the Hokage's unspoken question.

"I have no problems in being a branch member. I know Hari would be honorable in his offer to treat us with respect. That is one of the reasons why I came with him." the missing-nin stated.

"Why Zabuza-_chan_, I didn't know you held me in such high regard?" said Hari, batting his eyelashes at the former missing-nin.

"Don't push it, brat." growled Zabuza causing everyone to laugh.

"Anyway, joking aside, Zabuza, do you want to keep your last name? You can even change your name if you like and I'm sure that Hari here can change your looks if you want to leave your past behind and start a new leaf, no pun intended of course." offered Sarutobi with Hari nodding to the claim.

"You can do that?" asked Zabuza in disbelief.

"Of course." said Hari with aplomb. "Actually, I plan to blood adopt you and Haku into the clan. This will result in two things. One, your appearance would change to mark you as part of the family. DNA testing will reveal that you have Mahora blood running in your veins. Two, though I'm not sure about this one, Haku will surely have a boost in his abilities thanks to me. I'm not sure about you though. I'm sure you won't get magic from me but you will get _something_. I'm just not sure what."

"Since that is the case then I would be happy to change my name, Hokage-sama." declared Zabuza with a grin that can be easily seen despite the bandages covering his face. "If it's possible, can you change the name in my profile to _Mahora Sano_?"

"That's easily done." said the Hokage as he made the necessary changes on Zabuza/Sano's form. "There. All that needs to be done is to have it signed by you and your clan head. Do you want to join the Konoha shinobi force?"

Zabuza signed the document followed by his new clan head before answering the Hokage's query.

"If possible, yes. I am an A-rank Jounin before I left Kirigakure and became a missing-nin. I want to retain the same rank if possible."

"I can do that but you are to be placed under probation for six months. Meaning, your missions will be regulated and you will be accompanied by Hari here or someone of my choosing for such missions. Agreeable?"

"Agreed, Hokage-sama and thank you." said Zabuza, now Sano, with a bow of respect.

"You're welcome, Sano-kun." replied the aged leader before turning to Hari. "When are you going to perform the blood adoption ritual?"

"Tonight." said Hari with a glint in his eyes.

* * *

**End of chapter 9. **

**Please leave a comment or a review. Thanks.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's chapter 10. Before that, let me address some reviews/comments first:**

**Knatz:** Thanks for the review/comment but there are a few holes to what you brought up that I'm going to address right now.

Regarding the lack of people trying to manipulate Hari/Harry, I am basing my story to the anime/manga where a few rare scenes were included in regards to manipulation. Let's face it; these manipulations are only present in fan fiction.

Also, Danzo didn't want to move into controlling Hari/Harry because of two factors. One I mentioned the metaphorical 'Golden Goose that laid the Golden Egg'. Also, if along the way of his manipulation and something happened to Hari/Harry, the Mahora clan would be extinct since there are no other members. Again, how can he reap the benefits if there is none to reap the benefits from?

And another thing, Hari/Harry is widely accepted because he didn't show anyone any negative personalities to his dealings with Konoha in general. Sure, he is sadistic in my version of the story but he offered many benefits and doesn't ask for much except for a home that he could count on.

**Angelcerise:** Yeah, I like them too and I don't want them to disappear.

**konatachan603:** I hope you don't mind if I use that idea. Ku ku ku ku

**serialkeller:** That will be evident in later chapters. And no, he won't have any interaction with Sasuke aside from being a fellow shinobi of the Leaf.

**droga1:** I like Sanosuke of Ruroni Kenshin. Besides, he and Zabuza are quite alike. For one, they both carry big swords. Ku ku ku ku.

**HarbingerLady:** Yep!

**RogueNya:** There will be a confrontation between Hari/Harry and Danzo in the future. That is the only thing I can tell you now without spoiling the plot.

**Reishin Amara:** Naruto can't join the branch family because…well, what do you know, there was no reason why I can't place Naruto on a branch family within the Mahora Clan. Oh well, hopefully, your review should be somewhat answered in this chapter.

**Forever Waiting Girl:** Yes, there will be a meeting with the Konoha Council soon since the Hokage would have to inform the entire clan heads of Naruto's adoption into the Mahora Clan.

**rex-kaiden (Guest):** In future chapters, my friend. Be patient.

**Jlargent:** You worries will be answered in the next chapter.

**williamsangel88:** All will be revealed in this chapter; well, except for the pairing since I have no idea who Harry would be paired with and I have no plans on doing so at the moment. In regards to Yaoi, yes, I am a fan but I will not be turning this story into one. No romance for me.

**cjcold2:** Thanks for the idea between Zabuza/Sano and Naruto. Maybe in future chapters.

**On with the story. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 10: Welcome to the Family**

After finalizing all the details with the Hokage, Hari took Haku and the newly-named Sano back to the Mahora compound to get started with the blood adoption ritual.

The ritual was quite simple. In a heavily warded room underneath the main house, Hari carved a ritual circle to facilitate the blood adoption. Once that was done, Hari would enter the circle with the person who was going to be adopted and both would slit their wrist so enough blood would be spilled. Touching both wrists together, Hari would use his wand to incant the necessary spell for his blood to enter into that person's blood stream and integrate into their genetics, literally turning their blood into that of a family member.

Both rituals took half an hour since it wasn't really taxing and the changes were immediate. As far as any blood rituals go, the blood adoption of Mahora Haku and Mahora Sano went smoothly and the changes in both of them were amazing to say the least.

Of course, Hari had to test both shinobis in their abilities to make sure that everything was still working and nothing was amiss.

Haku's physical appearance changed a bit. His naturally slim body grew both in height and muscle after the ritual. His eyes changed into the same emerald shade as Hari, who was delighted for it to happen.

Magically, Haku changed the most. The amount of magic he had in his core grew to twice its original size, not as large as Hari's but a quarter of way there. It wasn't a comparison since Hari was easily a very powerful wizard.

Haku immediately tested his Hyouton bloodline and discovered that it was easier to manipulate and control. Chakra-wise, his reserves also increased making it easy for him to cast and maintain his chakra-taxing _Demonic Ice Mirror _technique and held it going for twice its supposed duration.

Zabuza's change was minor. His shark-like teeth disappeared, turning into normal ones much to the former missing-nin's disappointment (he said that shark teeth were cool and lamented their loss). He didn't change in height or musculature but his hair did grow out a bit, almost reaching his shoulders. He made a mental point to visit a barber shop later. Hari had to point out that Sano now had eyebrows which caused Haku to laugh much to Sano's ire.

Chakra-wise, Sano's reserves also grew twice as large and Hari couldn't explain how that could happen. His eyes also turned green though at a much darker shade than Hari's or Haku's. Magically, Sano became a squib, giving him the ability to use certain magical artifacts if he so wished but not enough magic in his system to cast spells.

After the ritual, Hari showed them the compound and the various rooms that he worked in. He told the two that they could access both libraries (shinobi and magical). The only warning he gave was to Haku who he exacted a wizard's oath not to practice any spells without him knowing about it to avoid accidents. The teen could read any books in the library but actual spell casting was prohibited until Hari gave the go signal.

The new Mahora member immediately made the oath using Hari's Holly wand.

At end of the tour, he showed both of them their respective rooms and would have a meeting again tomorrow to discuss their new responsibilities to the clan. Both went to sleep that night with a happy smile on their faces.

For the first time in their life, they didn't have to sleep with an eye open.

* * *

The month after the adoption of Haku and Sano into the Mahora clan was a busy one.

Hari immediately allocated a schedule for Haku for his magical lessons. Thankfully, Haku's focus in controlling his Hyouton bloodline made it easy for the teen to learn wandless magic though Hari still instructed Haku to learn and practice Occlumency to increase his focus and control. This was the boy's morning schedule.

In the afternoon, Haku was training with Naruto to work on their team abilities and individual shinobi skills. The blonde was thrilled to have Haku as a teammate and had no problems with it since he already considered Haku as a friend even before they left Wave Country.

Since Haku was already trained by Sano, Hari simply gave the teen a set of training schedule to be followed right on the dot to help the boy catch up to Naruto's level.

Shinobi skill-wise, Haku was above that of Naruto's; but stamina and physical prowess needed some work since Naruto was a powerhouse. Hari also instructed Haku to improve his physical strength and stamina since he would be given a summoning contract, like Naruto, once he achieved a higher chakra capacity to pull it off without blacking out from exhaustion.

This promise made Haku double his effort since having a summon animal was a Kami-given gift for a shinobi since they were pretty rare.

While not on a mission and after Haku's lesson in magic (which was currently focused on spell casting and spell theory), Hari was busy sparring with Sano to learn the fine art of kenjutsu. He conjured a sword similar to Sano's and spent the whole afternoon sparring like mad.

Sano had no problem teaching his new clan head since Hari was a quick learner, only needed to be taught once to get the whole thing.

Hari found one drawback to wielding a zanbatou. He lacked the strength to wave the huge sword around, like Sano did with his Kubikiri Hocho. However this was easily remedied when the former missing-nin subjected Hari to a stringent strength training program involving over-weighted chakra bands.

The curses that Hari spewed out were music to Sano's ears.

Hari and Sano also took the time to hone their respective apprentice's skills in the shinobi arts.

Hari maintained his training regimen with Naruto while Sano made a special point to teach Haku the Silent Killing method to compliment their teamwork. Their teamwork involved Naruto being the frontline fighter while Haku providing the supporting role.

Hari also started teaching Haku the medical arts and introduced the teen to the many medical books he had in his library.

After seeing the Hari's collection, Haku was whistling a merry tune with glazed eyes as the boy started running a finger down the spine of the books.

Naruto found it amusing but Sano and Hari found it disturbing since they likened it to a certain activity that should remain nameless for the moment.

* * *

Hari couldn't help but be proud of Haku.

Like Naruto to jutsus, Haku took to magic like a fish to water; absorbing spells and theory at an impressive rate. The teen would just read the theory once and he could cast the spell no problem, though not all spells were successful for the boy since some required too much magical power to properly pull off.

This was made evident when Haku passed out after casting a corporeal Patronus, which happened to be a rabbit much to everyone's amusement.

In a span of two months, Haku could cast first to third year spells wandlessly though needed more focus to bring out some of the latter. If Naruto was a genius of hard work; Haku was simply a genius, period.

This revelation was made evident when Haku combined his magic with his Hyouton's ultimate technique to conjure a dozen or so mirrors of magically-enhanced ice that floated around the teen as if it was dancing in midair. Haku informed them that it was a defense mechanism he came up with much to everyone's shock.

Hari, Sano, and Naruto tested the new defense in earnest to see how much it could take.

Naruto started bombarding Haku with kunais and shurikens.

With eyes closed shut, Haku's mirrors blocked every single one of them with ease. The mirror didn't even get scratched after it collided with the few chakra-laced kunais and shurikens the blonde threw at him. They weren't able to try the cutting power of wind as of yet since Naruto's couldn't channel that much wind chakra to coat his weapons though he promised to give it a try as soon as he had it mastered.

Hari tested it against his magically-enhanced lightning. The mirrors were able to block the first and second blow but shattered on the third hit, and this was with a medium powered lightning bolt. It didn't really matter since Haku could recreate the ice mirrors without problem as long as he had enough magic and chakra to do so.

Also unlike Haku's use of his bloodline that required water, these mirror could be created without any source making it a truly flexible technique.

Sano tested it against his zanbatou, both with and without chakra. No matter how hard he tried, every mirror blocked his strike and he couldn't find a weakness to get an attack in. Sano hacked at it with all his might and skill for an hour before giving up much to everyone's amusement.

After a few more tries from the three of them, it was immediately declared that Haku's '_Dance of Floating Ice Mirrors'_ was an absolute defense.

Haku was so proud of his achievement that he gave Hari the schematics on how he came up with the technique making the Mahora clan head give it some thought. After a few hours of deliberation, Hari was able to produce a screen of lightning that encased his body like a cocoon much to everyone's shock.

Unlike Haku's mirrors, Hari's version could attack if an enemy was in range due to the nature of lightning to harm anyone or anything it came into contact with. This was easily seen when every projectile Naruto (shuriken and kunai), Haku (senbon and water needles), and Sano (zanbatou, kunais, and water jutsus) could throw at him were knocked down by bolts of lightning in every direction or promptly destroyed if said projectile came into five feet of the Mahora clan head.

Sano made a mistake of directly attacking Hari with his zanbatou instead of just throwing it. When the sword collided with the screen, Sano flew back as a massive charge of lightning blew out of the shield and struck his sword upon contact, which also electrocuted Sano on the spot.

They also discovered that water jutsus would just increase the defense's potency, making it more powerful and destructive.

Wind techniques from Naruto weakened it a bit but that was easily remedied by pushing more magic and chakra into the defensive cocoon. Since Naruto knew the Uchiha's patented Grand Fireball, he threw an overcharged one at Hari without any noticeable effect except for the wizard-shinobi to feel a bit of the heat when the attack hit.

Proud of his achievement, Hari named it after Haku's own absolute defense. Thus, the _Dance of the Screaming Lightning_ was born.

Sano vowed that he would experiment it a bit with his water affinity to see if he could come up with one since he had a little bit of magic in his system after being blood adopted by Hari.

Since the technique could be taught to anyone who had both chakra and magic in their system, the clan decided to name their bloodline _Mahoujutsu_. The _Mahora Elemental Dance_, a Mahora clan-specific technique, would be placed in a large scroll protected by both seals and magic.

The scroll would also house all the techniques that used both chakra and magic, thus marking the beginning of unique jutsus that only a true-blood Mahora could perform. It was their version of Konoha's Forbidden Scroll and the Mahora family couldn't help but be happy of their achievement.

Hari immediately started recording all of his lightning techniques into the Mahora Clan Scroll since his techniques were a blend of both magic and chakra. Haku promised to experiment with his magic and Hyouton bloodline to see if he could come up with something similar. Despite having miniscule amounts of magic in his system, Sano also promised that he would experiment as well.

Three months later, Sano was able to create a similar defense using the schematics from the scroll.

Unlike Haku's floating mirrors and Hari's lightning cocoon, Zabuza was surrounded by a knee-high concentration of water with eight tentacles waving around. It could easily block every single attack but due to the lack of magic in his system, Sano had to focus a bit to turn it into an absolute defense. He also needed a water source since he couldn't conjure water like Haku.

He wasn't worried about that since he took to carrying three small gourds attached to his belt; each was enchanted by Hari to have more space than normal. A gourd could hold up to a thousand liters of water inside and making them weightless thanks to the enchantment. In regards to the focus needed, he had his well-honed sixth sense to compensate.

As with tradition, Sano named his version of the absolute defense the _Dance of Raging Tides_ since he could easily combine the water tentacles to launch a devastating attack to anyone who got too close to him.

Only Naruto was left to create his own version but Hari assured him that he was working on getting him blood adopted into the Mahora clan as soon as he and the Hokage hammered out the details.

When Naruto asked why it would take long, Hari decided to be blunt that he didn't know how his blood adoption would affect to him being a jinchuuriki, not to mention being a jinchuuriki of the most powerful tailed beast in the Elemental Nations.

Speaking of which, Naruto decided to come clean with Sano and Haku on him being the container of the Kyuubi. Both had no problems with it since they already knew a jinchuuriki in Mist, the tyrant Sano was planning to put down, the Yondaime Mizukage, the holder of the Sanbi.

* * *

After two months of honing their respective skills, Hari instructed Naruto and Haku to do D-rank missions to help Haku amass some for his shinobi record. Thanks to Hari's physical training and the addition of magic in his system, Haku could make ten shadow clones with enough energy to spare.

Because of that, they indulged in four C-Rank missions everyday for two months straight on top of their scheduled training program.

Aside from missions, everyone in the Mahora Clan (including Naruto) had their own responsibility to the family.

Hari was the overall head who was in charge of the running of the household. Every decision had to go through him. Considering that he was the most knowledgeable in magic, he was in charge of defense and protection of the home in case there was an attack, as well as teaching newcomers in the various aspects of the magical arts.

Naruto was in charge of maintenance since Hari didn't want to give all the work to the elves (whose sole responsibility was cooking and keeping the inside of the house neat, as well as brewing some potions for Hari if needed). This meant that Naruto was in charge of maintaining their personal training ground and tending to the gardens. The blonde had no problem with the latter since he liked gardening anyway and he didn't mind keeping the training ground in good shape since most of the messes were his in the first place.

Because of this, Naruto finally moved to the Mahora clan compound with Hari giving Naruto his very own room and giving him access to every single room in the house by keying him into the wards and blood lock since he wasn't a Mahora as of yet.

Haku was in charge of the finances since he was the most experienced when it came to money. Sano admitted that Haku was the reason why they still had money while they were still missing-nins since the boy was quite tightfisted. All expenses were recorded and dissemination of allowances was tallied properly as per Haku's demand to everyone's amusement (except for Sano since the money he took from Gato was also into the Mahora coffers after much prodding from Haku).

Such was the case; Hari gave Haku access to the Mahora Clan account in the bank and the Mahora Clan account ledger. This gave Haku the power to use the clan money for purchases but all major expenses exceeding the minimum 10,000 ryo had to be run through the head first. Hari had no problems with money since he made a killing in selling potions and he still had some left over gold stored in the bank if needed. If they do run out, which was not possible since the Mahora coffers were now in Trillion, Hari still had a lot of money back in Britain safely tucked inside Gringotts.

Finally, Sano was the one in charge of the armory and the shinobi library. His responsibility was to make sure that the weapons and shinobi equipments were fully stocked and in top quality. This resulted in Sano going into a shopping frenzy, hitting all the shinobi shops in Konoha to purchase quality weapons that were now proudly displayed in the clan armory.

Sano made a special point to stock up on kunais, shurikens, senbons, and other shinobi equipment so they wouldn't have to buy some for missions and could just take what they needed from the armory since it was mandated to be replenished monthly.

Concerning the library, Sano was charged to make sure that the shinobi library had all the information on the shinobi arts. He was given a budget account so he could purchase and make deals on jutsus scrolls and books.

Fortunately for Hari, Sano had some interesting contacts outside Konoha who he met during his tenure as a missing-nin so orders for scrolls on shinobis arts were immediately forwarded.

It was a month later that a lot of jutsu scrolls started pouring into the library which made Hari quite happy since he had some new stuff to read on. Naruto was happy too since there were some wind scrolls for him; and Haku who was salivating at the new water and healing techniques from the new addition to the library.

It was a unanimous decision that Sano was the most well-loved Mahora…well, until the all the new arrivals were read.

* * *

When the hubbub died down, Hari spent a lot of time inside his study to do some experiments.

His first successful experiment was enchanting.

Using Sano's Kubikiri Hocho as a test dummy, he was able to successfully engrave runes on the blade's surface to give it additional abilities that Sano definitely liked.

For starters, the zanbatou was now twice as durable using strengthening runes making its ability to regenerate using the iron in the blood as a source almost useless, not that Sano minded off course.

Hari also enchanted it produce a mild cutting curse on the bladed edge which was activated by a drop of chakra from Sano. After testing it out, Sano could cut a 20 inch thick slab of high quality metal like a hot knife through butter.

Sano almost hugged Hari to death in sheer happiness. He had to hit Sano with a mild banishing hex just for the man to let him go.

The last enchantment he added to the sword was a form of summoning charm through a set of blood runes.

A rune set was inscribed on Sano's palm like a tattoo and on the hilt of the sword. By channeling chakra to the tattoo, Sano could easily call back the weapon after being thrown or stolen. This made Sano's fighting prowess more deadly since he could now throw his sword repeatedly without worry, solving the range problem that most kenjutsu masters were weak to.

As a side-effect, no one but Sano could touch the blade or else anyone else who do so would be shocked to an inch of their live much to the swordsman's happiness.

After a successful test of Sano's Kubikiri Hocho, Hari immediately went to a blacksmith in the village to have his zanbatou crafted. It would take a month for it to finish since Hari specifically requested for it to be made using the most expensive chakra metal around. Price was not an option and Hari left a salivating blacksmith who was drooling at the prospect of making millions in just a single transaction.

His second experiment was testing Naruto's blood if it was compatible to his own.

After running a few tests on it by magically combining both blood using a technique employed by medical wizards and witches back in Britain, Hari noticed that it was somewhat compatible though there were a few small reactions after both combined.

For starters, Naruto's blood had a trace of Kyuubi's chakra in it that rejected the magic in Hari's blood.

After numerous testing, he found out that Naruto had energy in his body that was similar to magic but at a more diluted and somewhat sentient form. He immediately ran an in depth diagnostic spell on Naruto to see if his theory was correct.

After compiling the result of the spell, Hari was able to determine that because of the Kyuubi, Naruto had a form of magical energy inside him but not enough to use spells or any magical artifacts.

Another fact that screamed out at him was that the unique magic-like energy in Naruto was trying to reject the magic in his blood, not all of it but enough to remove its overall potency.

In conclusion, it was safe to blood adopt Naruto into the Mahora clan but he wouldn't be able to get a magical boost like what happened to Haku.

If his theory was correct then Naruto would be similar to Sano, a squib.

Another effect would be a boost in chakra reserves which made Hari shudder since Naruto already trumped everyone in Konoha, even the Hokage, in terms of chakra amount.

With a positive conclusion to his experiment, he exited his lab to find the blonde to break the good news to him.

* * *

When Naruto heard Hari's findings concerning the blood adoption, it was safe to say that the blonde was ecstatic and wanted to begin the ritual immediately.

Hari, who was excited in finally adopting Naruto, eagerly complied and the duo made their way to the ritual room with Sano and Haku acting as witness.

Both started the ritual without a hitch. However, when the last step of the ritual was enacted, the two was covered in a bright light that blinded the witnesses in the room.

* * *

Hari was confused. He was currently standing in a sewer with Naruto in front of him who was looking around with a bewildered look in his whiskered face.

"What in the world happened? Where are we?" asked Naruto, looking at his sensei for some answers.

"I don't know." Hari answered with a shrug. "From the looks of it, we are in a sewer of sorts though I don't know how we came to be here in the first place."

"Was this supposed to happen?" asked the blonde, calming a bit since his sensei wasn't looking like he was ready to fly out of his skin.

"Nope." answered Hari with a grin. "You were there during Haku and Sano's blood adoption ceremony and nothing unsual happened. I can only guess that this happened to us because of your status as a jinchuuriki."

Looking around, he saw a very large cage with a paper in the middle with the Kanji of 'Seal' written on the face. Something clicked in Hari's mind before his blood ran cold.

They were in Naruto's mind.

There were just outside the Kyuubi's cage.

Shit!

"Judging from that large cage behind you, I can only assume that we are in inside your mind." Hari informed Naruto with a scared look on his face. "If my guess is right then we are just outside Kyuubi's cage. We need to get out here, now!"

Hari was about to force an exit from the boy's mind when a booming voice stopped him.

"**I wouldn't do that if I were you."** said a booming voice.

Hari and Naruto swerved their heads to the direction of the voice; both already knew who the voice came from.

"Kyuubi." whispered Hari in disbelief. Naruto tensed.

"**Correct, human, though I am quite surprised to see you here. My jailor I can understand but you, I don't." **said Kyuubi with an amused chuckle before showing himself to the two…visitors. He leveled his red eyes at Naruto who remained tense. **"Hello, Naruto. Finally I get to meet you."**

"You don't sound like the Kyuubi that everyone turned you out to be." Hari asked with forced calm. It was the truth. Instead of the malicious being that many of the shinobis attributed to the great Kyuubi no Kitsunes, the bijuu in front of him lacked the…menace it was described with.

"**Why should I be angry? After all, you turned my container into a worthy vessel. If he was weak then we would be having disagreements right now. However, after your training, he is a fine vessel for my power." **stated Kyuubi with a fanged grin.

"What in the world is going on here? And where are we?" Naruto half-shouted, half-asked.

"**The answer to that is simple, gaki. We are currently inside your mind. I don't know what brought you here but what is happening to your body right now made it possible for your sensei to be here as well. What did you do anyway?"**

"I blood adopted Naruto into my clan." Hari answered while giving the bijuu a speculative look. "How did you know that _something_ is happening to Naruto-boya's body?"

"**The seal that the Yondaime created is quite unique. I cannot influence Naruto in a negative way nor can I influence his mind. However, the seal allows me to have an…awareness of sorts of the boy's body. This made it possible for me to channel my chakra to his wounds to heal it at a rapid rate. Why do you think he has a developed regenerative ability? His natural Uzumaki bloodline of healing was made better by my presence."**

"I have a bloodline?" Naruto asked incredulously, unable to process the fact that he was talking to THE Kyuubi like friends, as well as the fact that he had a bloodline.

"**Of course you have, kit."** Kyuubi said condescendingly. **"All Uzumaki have a higher healing factor than normal humans due to your clan's potent chakra. This is the reason why only an Uzumaki can safely contain my power since their energy is so potent that it could trump my own."**

"Oh. I guess that's good then…I think." Naruto said in a dumbfounded voice, making the other two sweat dropped.

"**Anyway, what is a wizard doing here?"** asked Kyuubi as he eyed a surprised Hari. **"As far as I know, the last wizard here in the Elemental Nations died before the Sage of the Six Paths vanquished the Juubi."**

"How in the bloody hell did you know I am a wizard?" shouted Hari in surprise.

"**Please…did you think that magic is unknown in this world? Since you didn't know, this world had its own magic users back then but they all died out and lost to the history of time. In truth, they practically bred themselves to extinction."** Kyuubi paused, looking at Hari speculatively before inhaling deeply, taking everyone's scent. "**Judging from the smell of the magic you hold, you're not from this world, are you?"**

"Er, no. I came from another world via a doorway that linked this world to mine." answered Hari distractedly, his mind trying to grasp around the revelation that this world might _not_ be as unique he thought it to be.

"**Interesting. Now can you please explain to me this 'blood adoption' and its purpose since something is changing the boy's DNA. It is not harmful but I don't know what it's doing to him."**

"Well, what I did is called a magical blood adoption. I am currently using my magic to give Naruto my blood to add him as a family member. Also, in a blood adoption, it is normal for the adopted to gain the same abilities as the adopter." explained Hari before telling the bijuu the various experiments he performed on Naruto's blood to determine if it was safe to adopt him considering that the boy was a jinchuuriki.

"**Hmmm. I don't think it would be a problem but I think you are right on your assumption that the boy would not have the same magical prowess as you do. However, I can determine some of the changes in the boy's body as **_**it**_** is still changing."** This revelation caused the two visitors to give the fox their undivided attention, making the bijuu chuckle before continuing on with the explanation. **"One, the boy now has a small amount of magical energy running through his veins. Very miniscule I might add. Two, the boy's healing factor have been boosted yet again. You might want to experiment with that a bit. And finally, the boy's adaptability to my potent chakra has increased. Meaning, he can now handle a large amount of my chakra into his body without getting harmed in the process."**

"Nice." said Hari with a nod of appreciation before looking at Naruto who was dumbfounded at what is happening to his body. "Well, Naruto-boya, welcome to the Mahora Clan."

"Thanks." said Naruto with a grin before it turned into a frown. He looked at Kyuubi before asking. "Why are you being nice?"

"**As I told your…ummm…family member earlier, I have no ill feelings towards you because you became a powerful vessel that reflects my power. If you were still that orange wearing weakling back then, I would be most vexed with you and would have fought with you for control even if it is impossible because of the seal. I am nice to you now because you will be representing **_**me**_** in the real world. So make sure that you grow strong, kit. We will talk again soon since you need training to handle my chakra. For now, be gone both of you!"**

With that, a wave of red chakra emanated out of the cave and forced both visitors out of the mindscape, leaving a chuckling bijuu behind before going to sleep.

* * *

**End of chapter 10. **

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 11: Counseling the Council**

Hari made it a point to test the result of Naruto's blood adoption after finding out from Kyuubi that there were changes in the boy's body. After assuring Sano and Haku that everything was alright, everyone adjourned to the Mahora training ground to conduct the test.

The reason for the test was to find out the extent of Naruto's change, as well as to make sure that none of the changes were harmful to the boy. Naruto was eager to be tested since he wanted to find out if he gained something cool from Hari's blood.

Sano and Haku decided to just stay in the background and observe, anticipation clearly written on their faces. Of course, they offered their services if there _was_ a need to test Naruto in terms of finding out some new skills and abilities that the blonde might have gained through the inclusion of Hari's blood into the blonde's system.

Sano was particularly excited about that since he had been itching for a good fight ever since Wave Country and he knew for a fact that Naruto was a strong kid considering that the person who trained him was a powerful shinobi.

After a slew of diagnostic spells later, Hari was practically staring at Naruto in disbelief, unable to believe that the boy changes turned out to be...unexpected.

"Wow." Hari exclaimed in total disbelief. "I didn't expect that."

"Expect what, sensei?" asked Naruto eagerly, wanting to know what he gained from being blood adopted into his sensei's clan. That thought made him giddy since he now belonged to a family that contained member who didn't treat him differently just because he contained Kyuubi in his metaphorical gut.

"Something wrong with Naruto, Hari-sama?" Haku asked in a concerned voice. Sano just stayed silent since his clan head didn't say anything substantial as of yet.

Hari shook his head to regain his bearings before addressing the question.

"Uh no, nothing is wrong with Naruto. He is quite healthy though the changes I found in his body startled me a bit."

"So what did the blood adoption do to me, sensei? Did I gain cool powers? Can I do magic now?" Naruto fired off his salvo of questions.

Hari simply gave the blonde a smile before patting him on the head.

"Let me _start_ with the cosmetic changes first." Hari began. "Your eyes changed color. It would seem that my green hue mixed with your blue, turning it into something that resembled yellow, not quite there since I can easily see the distinction. It is something more blue-green or yellow-green if you want to be technical about it."

"Huh? Really?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

Hari nodded and conjured a small hand-held mirror and had if float over to the blonde who immediately saw the color change in his eyes. Naruto was desensitized over the use of magic considering that he was training under someone who used it on a daily basis.

"Ano…not as bright as my usual blue but its cool, I guess." the blonde observed before nodding. He was a bit sad that he lost his unique blue but the new color was great too. Then he saw something that made his eyes widen comically "I see that my hair grew too! It's no longer as messy as before."

"Yep." Hari agreed, Haku gave a nod of approval as well. "Since it's longer, it doesn't stand up as it used to. Anyway, are you guys ready to hear more?"

Everyone nodded eagerly, though Naruto's nod was quite energetic making the Mahora Clan Head chuckle.

"According to the diagnostic spell I ran on you, there are no outer physical changes aside from your eyes and the length of your hair. However," Hari paused a bit for a more dramatic approach. "Inside your body tells another story. Did you know that your bones are denser and your muscles are more compact?"

Naruto and Haku just looked at him with a confused expression on their faces; the latter, despite having medical training to assist his former master better didn't go into the intricacies of human anatomy as of yet due to the lack of material.

Sano's eyes, however, brightened in realization. "You don't mean…?" Sano trailed off.

Hari nodded to that unasked question.

"Yes, _that_ is exactly what I mean." Hari replied immediately, knowing what Sano was trying to say.

Naruto looked at the two of them in annoyance.

"Can you guys tell me what the both of you are talking about?" asked an annoyed blonde.

Hari chuckled over his apprentice's annoyance.

"You see, Naruto, our bones and muscles improve the more we train. This is why shinobis are physically stronger than civilians. I checked hundreds of shinobis in the hospital and all of them have the same characteristics - denser bones and more compact muscles. To put it simply, the denser the bone, the stronger and more durable it is. The more compact the muscles, the more power it could produce." Hari explained with a smile causing Naruto's eyes to widen in realization. "I see that you got it. You're physical stronger now than you were before. Your bones are more durable; and if I guessed right, you won't be suffering from broken bones anytime soon. Add your healing factor into the mix, you're practically an immortal in the battlefield."

"Wow!" Naruto breathed before a happy grin made its way to his face and danced a jig. "Yatta! I'm stronger! Woot!"

Hari sighed before hitting Naruto's rump with a mild pain hex causing the blonde to yelp in pain.

"I'm not done yet, gaki." Hari said, annoyed though he was inwardly smirking when Naruto rubbed the pain on his butt cheek. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, now, these changes in your muscle and bone structure increased your weight. So if I was to hazard a guess, you're speed would be somewhat affected though I'm not sure about that since you can physically offset it with your newfound strength or by channeling chakra through your body to counter the weight. We need to test this though to find out."

"What test, sensei?" asked Naruto.

Hari gestured the training dummies that littered the Mahora training ground.

"I want to test your strength and how much it changed after the blood adoption. There are three tests I want you to try. First, I want you to punch that dummy with all of your strength without using chakra." Hari instructed.

Naruto nodded and walked over to the nearest training dummy. He took in a deep breath to relax and gathered his strength. He punched the training dummy with all of his might and stared at the result. The training dummy broke into pieces easily under his punch. The sound from the impact echoed across the training ground.

"Wow!" Haku and Sano breathed out, staring disbelievingly at the ruined dummy in front of them.

"Wow indeed." Hari said with a nod before conjuring a notebook and wrote down the result of the first test. "With your previous strength, you would have just given the dummy a hole or a crack here and there with a full-power punch. This time, your punch practically broke the dummy into pieces. Now, choose another dummy and punch it again, this time, use chakra with your full strength behind it."

Naruto nodded dumbly and walked over to the next dummy. He frowned a bit when he found his chakra to be unresponsive; meaning that his control was shot. He needed to ask his sensei later about that. Using whatever control he had at the moment over his chakra, he channeled the energy into his hand making it glow a bright blue. He got into a ready stance and punched the training dummy with all of his strength.

It was safe to say that the result was devastating.

The dummy exploded from the impact, turning the wooden dummy into sawdust that floated lazily to the ground. Everyone started at the result in pure disbelief.

"Whoah! What in the world was _that_?" exclaimed Naruto as he stared at his fist then at the saw dust on the ground.

"I don't know but I have a theory." Hari said, using his Occlumency to get rid of the shock. "This is still the second test since I want to find out more. I want you to do the same but instead of punching a training dummy, punch the ground instead."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed in confusion.

"Just do it, boya!" shouted Hari in annoyance since he wanted to see what he was working with. He gestured for Sano and Haku to move back a few meters with him doing the same. "Alright, Naruto, do it!"

Naruto sighed and repeated the feat. Pulling in a deep breath, he punched the ground with all of his might, causing a loud explosion, scattering dust and rocks all over the place.

Hari couldn't see Naruto due to the large amount of dust in the air so he used a vanishing charm to get rid of the hindrance. He stared in pure shock and disbelief since Naruto was no longer there, and so was the ground the blonde was standing on.

In its place was a deep crater, easily 20 feet in diameter and easily 10 feet deep. Naruto was sitting on his butt in the middle of the crater, disbelief also on his whiskered face.

"Holy shit!" Sano exclaimed. "What a punch!"

"Wow!" was all Haku said, staring at the hole with wide-eyed astonishment.

A sadistic grin made its way to Hari's face before jotting down a few notes on his notebook. He walked over to the edge of the crater and looked down at the shocked blonde.

"Oi, gaki. You still alive?" Hari hollered down to his apprentice.

"What just happened, sensei?" asked Naruto when he looked up from where he was sitting in the middle of the crater he made from a single punch.

"Come back up here." commanded Hari which Naruto immediately followed by jumping out of the hole. He must have underestimated his strength since he overshot his mark and landed a few meters behind the trio. Amused, Hari commented. "I guess he doesn't know his own strength."

Bewildered, Naruto turned around to look at his sensei, his face clearly asking for help. Hari saw this and gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, gaki. As I said before, you will have a whole new experience with your new physical prowess. We will work on control since we don't want you to kill somebody by accident." Hari joked though everyone in the training ground knew that it wasn't one.

"Damn. The kid has quite a punch. The amount of power in that single punch alone must rival those that Tsunade could dish out." exclaimed Sano in both surprise and disbelief. He made a note not to mess with the blonde since it would be detrimental to his health if he did so.

"Tsunade of the Sannin?" asked Haku.

Sano nodded before answering. "Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin is said to have legendary strength that could shatter large boulders with a single punch. From the few missing-nins who saw her in action, what the gaki did was similar to her strength."

Hari nodded in agreement to Sano's comparison before turning to Haku. "Haku, since you're a sensor, how much chakra was Naruto channeling in that punch?"

Haku thought for a bit before answering. "He channeled as much chakra as I do when I use my _Demonic Ice Mirror_ technique, which takes about half of my reserves. From what I can sense from Naruto, he used _barely_ a drop on his overall reserves," explained Haku before pausing. "If I sense it right, Naruto's chakra amount grew twice its original amount." He looked at Naruto who was staring at him in shock. "I'm sorry to say this, Naruto, but your chakra control is going to suck judging from how your chakra sluggishly moved to your fist."

Naruto didn't say anything but turned to a tree and started running towards it. When he got a step on the trunk and channeled chakra to stick, he flew back like a rocket with the large chunk of the trunk gouged off.

"See?" Haku said, amused over the whole thing. Before the blood adoption, Naruto chakra was moving around his body like a calm river. Now, it was like a raging torrent making his control over it nonexistent.

"Aw man! Now I have to do chakra control exercises again." Naruto whined as he picked himself off the ground and patting the dirt off his pants.

"Stop whining, boya." Hari barked to the blonde. "No need to worry about that. Just make a few hundreds, or in this case, thousands of clones and work on your chakra control. You can do that tomorrow. I want to finish the tests to make sure I got everything down when I report your adoption to the Hokage."

Naruto looked at him weirdly. "Why do you need to report it to jiji?" he asked with a confused tilt of his head.

"Baka! He's the Hokage and any clan adopting a member into the fold must be reported to him." replied Hari with a frown on his face. "Don't tell me you forgot about _that_ law? That was in one of the books you read during your first month of training."

"Oh. Sorry, sensei." Naruto said sheepishly causing Hari to sigh.

"Let's move on to the next test." said Hari before conjuring a kunai with a long blade, making it look like a miniature sword.

"What is it going to be this time?" Naruto asked before he nervously looked at the…weapon in his sensei's grip. "What are _you_ going to do with _that_, sensei?"

Hari didn't say anything but advanced on the blonde with a sadistic gleam in his eyes.

* * *

"Is this for real?" exclaimed the Hokage as he read the content of the notebook he was holding.

"Yes, everything in that notebook is real, old man." said Hari with little to no surprise. He was there after all when Naruto demonstrated the…explosive changes his blood wrought on the blonde. "From the looks of it, Naruto didn't change much physically but his body went into a total overhaul. Chakra-wise, Sano compared him to Kisame, his swordsman colleague who was dubbed as the Bijuu-without-a-tail. Magically, Naruto is just above that of a squib and below an ordinary wizard; he can't cast spells but he had enough in his system to assist in the creation of his own Mahora Elemental Dance, though we'll have to see how his Absolute Defense works to determine the extent of his magical core. His healing factor got boosted and the various wounds I inflicted on him healed almost immediately. He is going to be a terror in the field, I just know it."

The Hokage nodded before a thought occurred to him.

"Which reminds me; you sent me a note detailing your…_mahoujutsu_. You didn't specify the details so can you give me an idea what it can do?" asked Sarutobi as he put down the notebook he was reading. Everything in it was unbelievable. He knew that Naruto was going to be a strong shinobi, stronger than his peers; but this takes the cake.

"_Mahoujutsu_ is the name of the Mahora Clan's bloodline." Hari said with a grin. "From what Haku discovered and what I have been doing for years, it is quite possible to combine both the manipulation aspect of chakra with the creation part of magic to create new techniques. Thanks to Haku, we were able to determine that the magic in our system reacts to our main elemental affinity, giving us the ability to create an absolute defense of sorts."

"Absolute defense?" the aged leader asked skeptically. "Sorry for saying this but in the shinobi world, there is no such thing as an absolute defense."

Hari smirked and relayed Haku's _Dance of the Floating Ice Mirrors_ and how it acted in defense of the caster, describing every detail during the testing. To prove his point, he also mentioned his own version of the technique, _Dance of the Screaming Lightning_, as well as Sano's _Dance of Raging Tides_. When he was done, the Sandaime Hokage was giving him a shocked look.

"You don't have to worry, old man." Hari assured him. "No one without magic in their system can replicate those techniques. Even if they could, the schematics of its creation are safely stored in our clan's version of the Forbidden Scroll - protected under wards, a blood lock, and a blood seal. No one outside the Mahora Clan can open it."

"Fine. I'll let you take care of it since it is a clan matter." Sarutobi said with a nod. He didn't need this headache and if word got out, it would surely place the Mahora Clan in the spotlight. Not that they needed it considering Hari's…reputation. "I hope you have a plan concerning your adoption of Naruto and his recent…changes."

Hari nodded. "According to the Konoha Charter, an adoption of a shinobi into a bloodline-using clan requires the information to be released to the council before being disseminated to the rest of the village, not that they could do anything about it since the approval for adoption is sorely under your domain and we have that in writing already." stated Hari as he gestured towards the folder on the Hokage's desk containing the documents regarding the adoption of Naruto into the Mahora Clan which made everything legal and iron-clad. "I know the shinobi council won't be a problem since they all like Naruto but I'll bet that the civilian council is going to raise a fuss over it."

"I know." Sarutobi said with a groan. He knew that this was going to give him a migraine. "However, they can't do anything about it. They can complain and demand for the adoption to be nullified, but without my consent, they can't do anything about it. Also, your adoption of the boy could not be reversed."

"True." Hari quipped before a mischievous grin crossed his face. "I have a plan in mind that would put them in their proper place. Professor Dumbledore told me once during my first year at Hogwarts that the Truth is a beautiful and terrible thing. I intend to make the civilian council see the truth about Naruto and the bijuu he holds."

Sarutobi nodded before he remembered something. "Speaking of the Kyuubi, are you sure that it's not influencing the boy?"

"Nope." said Hari with shake of his head. "If anything, the addition of magical blood into Naruto strengthened the seal somewhat, ensuring that the fox wouldn't be able to control or influence Naruto in any way. According to the bijuu, who I felt was being entirely honest about it, informed us that Naruto can now easily control most of his chakra. We haven't tested it yet but I'm planning to do so in a week when Naruto gets his chakra control back to the level before the adoption messed it up. Besides, I didn't detect a hint of lying from the fox when Naruto and I talked to it."

"I see. That's good. Make sure that you keep monitoring Naruto. I think you already know that this is the first time in the history of the Elemental Nations that a jinchuuriki was infused with magical blood. We don't know what it would do to Naruto in the future."

"Don't worry about it. I have everything under control." said Hari with a smile before frowning. "Any word from _the_ pervert?"

"Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked in an amused tone. "No not yet. My last communication with him came in the form of the letter. He will be coming back to Konoha _after_ the second part of the Chuunin Exams. He will meet Naruto then and take up the next step to the boy's apprenticeship. Are you sure you're fine with that?"

Hari nodded his head in positive. "I have no problems with Jiraiya teaching Naruto as long as he doesn't turn the gaki into a pervert. If I hear a peep that Naruto is doing something…perverted then Jiraiya is going to get an up-close and personal experience with my lightning bolts." he said with a sadistic smirk that sent shivers down Sarutobi's spine.

"Fine. I'll make sure I _warn_ him of your…condition in taking over the apprenticeship." said the Hokage, praying the Jiraiya wouldn't make the wrong move on Naruto or else he would be in a world of hurt. Sure, Jiraiya was way stronger than Hari in terms of skill and experience but the Mahora Clan Head wasn't a pushover. "Now, let's start planning on what we are going to do when the council is called into session."

Both shared a devious grin before getting started on their plan.

* * *

It was two days after Naruto's blood adoption into the Mahora Clan that the Konoha Council was called into a full meeting through the insistence of the civilian-side since they wanted to discuss something of importance to the 'benefit and welfare of Konoha' as they put it.

However, Hari knew that this was a farce since he and Hokage already expected this to happen since the aged leader informed everyone of the adoption during yesterday's session. Despite this…underhanded maneuver, Hari wasn't worried because among the Konoha Council, only the civilian side had it in for the blonde jinchuuriki.

It was a suckers bet that they would be demanding that the adoption be nullified and the boy to be 'killed' for the safety of the villagers. If that didn't work then the civilian council would push through the motion of having Naruto's shinobi license revoked so he would revert back to a civilian and totally under their control.

Hari would go through hell if he let that happen.

Of course, the shinobi council would be against their request since the Naruto was a talented shinobi that was already a great addition to the ranks thanks to the many missions he had amassed over the months since he graduated from the Academy. Besides, it would all come to naught because Naruto was under the Hokage's jurisdiction due to his shinobi status and the civilian council, despite their bullheadedness knew that they couldn't touch the blonde because of that.

No, Hari wanted to make sure that the animosity would end after this meeting. He already had a plan to make sure that everything would go smoothly and mentally grinned when he eyed a particularly fat civilian councilman that would become the target of his…demonstration.

All he needed to do was to stick to the plan the Hokage made up for this event.

* * *

Hari was inwardly laughing as the civilian council was doing it's very best to have the adoption of Naruto revoked and the shinobi council expending the same effort in thwarting their plans. Deciding to get this show on the road, he discretely gave the Hokage a small wink to signal the start of the plan.

"SILENCE!" shouted the Hokage with a bit of his killing intent thrown into the mix, effectively shutting everyone up. "Thank you. Before you people shout yourself hoarse, need I _remind_ the civilian council that adoption of shinobis into any clans falls under the jurisdiction of the shinobi council and the Hokage. Meaning, you don't have any say in the matter, making this meeting a farce of an event with no agenda. Besides, even if it is possible to revoke the adoption, there are certain things involved in this adoption that made it ironclad."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" asked the Haruno Sakaki, the head of the merchant's guild in Konoha, practically the leader of the civilian council thanks to his wealth. He was also a stout supporter of the anti-Naruto campaign.

"Naruto is not only _legally_ adopted into the Mahora Clan, he is now a part of it in blood as well." Sarutobi informed him before nodding to Hari who smirked. "I think it would be best to let Hari explain everything to set the facts straight. Hari?"

Hari nodded before standing up, the smirk in his face was now evident to everyone in the room. The shinobis who knew Hari shivered a bit as to what that smirk entailed.

"Thank you for giving me the floor, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a bow to the Hokage before turning his attention to the council. "Hokage-sama is correct on _all_ counts. Not only is Naruto adopted into the clan legally as mandated by the Konoha Charter concerning the adoption of a shinobi into a bloodline-using clan, I have enacted a certain ritual to turn Naruto into a full-blooded Mahora." This was a lie of course since Naruto was technically a half-blood Mahora after the adoption but the council didn't need to know that teensy weensy fact.

"What do you mean, Mahora-san?" asked Shikaku who was miraculously awake since the Nara clan head tend to use the session as nap time. He's been doing that for years ever since he ascended to being the head of his clan so his nap-time session during council meetings was mostly ignored, except when things were important enough to garner his attention.

"As you all know, the Mahora Clan is not only unique in terms of abilities, but of _how_ these abilities are used as well. The way I adopted Naruto into my clan requires a rare ritual called the Blood Adoption Ritual and those who would be joining my clan in the future would be following the same protocol. In fact, before I did this ritual with Naruto, I had Haku and Sano go through the same. To put it simply, the result of the ritual would ensure that anyone blood adopted by me will have my blood running in their veins."

This little information shocked everyone, especially Danzo who was frowning .

"So you mean to tell us that Naruto is no longer an Uzumaki?" asked Danzo with a mild glare directed at Hari who just ignored it. There were only a few people in Konoha who knew about the Uzumakis body-based bloodline and he was one of them. He was concerned of having this useful bloodline disappear because _someone_ happens to have a method to blood adopt someone into his clan. He fought tooth and nail with Sarutobi to have the boy inducted into his training program but all attempts failed because of the old monkey's cunning and use of the loopholes in the Konoha Charter. It was maddening.

"You misunderstand me, Danzo-sama." corrected Hari, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Even if Naruto's blood is now similar to my own, he will still retain all of the abilities that he had as an Uzumaki. Nothing is ever lost, only added upon."

"Wait a minute, what abilities are we talking about?" asked one of the councilman in the room. "the brat is an orphan so he doesn't have any."

Hari gave the man a condescending look.

"Please, _councilman_. You forget that I'm a professional medic-nin. Naruto is a true blue Uzumaki…and no, I'm not going to tell you how I know. Only the Hokage can give that permission since he is the only one who has access to Uzumaki blood and the clan's relevant information about it. To answer your question, Uzumaki Naruto holds the famous body-based bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan."

"What bloodline does Naruto have, Mahora-san?" asked Inoichi, curious.

"All Uzumakis are blessed with a body-based bloodline giving them three advantages. One, an Uzumaki's chakra is more potent than your average chakra. Meaning, if an Uzumaki and an Uchiha would fire off a fireball with the same amount of chakra, the Uzumaki would win because their chakra is more condensed, thus giving it more power." Hari paused for a bit, noticing that everyone attention was on him. He continued. "Anyway, the second advantage is their healing factor. An Uzumaki has an improved regenerative factor that allows them to heal wounds on the fly. Again, the speed of the healing would depend on how potent the Uzumaki's chakra is. Thanks to the…ummm…_thing_ inside Naruto, his chakra is more potent, granting him a powerful healing factor."

"And the third?" asked another councilman who was leaning forward with greed quite evident in his eyes. Hari made a mental note to keep an eye on this one.

"Potent chakra equals a potent life force. Because of this, an Uzumaki has a longer life span than normal humans. He would live up to sixty and wouldn't look a day older than forty." Hari informed the man with a cold look.

"Still, that doesn't answer the question, does Uzumaki still have access to his bloodline?" asked Danzo, irritated that the boy was taking so long to answer a simple question.

Hari gave the man a smirk before nodding.

"The answer is…yes. In fact, thanks to the blood adoption ritual and the addition of my blood to his system, he now holds a minor ability common in all Mahoras, as well as enhancing his bloodline tenfold." answered Hari with a cheeky grin on his face making some of the shinobi clan heads stifle a grin.

"You gave the _demon_ more power! How could you!" shouted Haruno Sakaki which made everyone wince. His volume wasn't as potent as a female Haruno but it was very close for comparison.

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about, Haruno-san, but Naruto is _not_ a demon. I can testify to that fact." Hari said with a grin, inwardly patting himself on the back for manipulating the questions arrive at this point.

"And how pray tell can you determine that Naruto is not a demon? He holds the….K-" he was interrupted by Hari who was giving him a glare that could have killed if him looks had that capability.

"I _suggest_ that you stop right there, Haruno-san. You know the consequence of voicing out that knowledge even if everyone in this room knows about it." The Hokage interrupted coldly, making Sakaki flinch.

"I apologize, Hokage-sama." Sakaki said with a bow though every shinobi in the room knew the man didn't mean it. "But the fact remains, making the boy stronger would kill us all!"

"Let me ask you this, Haruno-san," Hari started coldly, the temperature in the room dropped and a sudden pressure seemed to press down on everyone's shoulders. "If Naruto is a demon, as you so eloquently put it, why are the civilians in Konoha who attacked the boy still alive?"

The silence was deafening so Hari chose to continue.

"If Naruto is really the demon that he contained then all of those who attacked him should be dead already. The demon laid waste to half of Konoha's shinobi when it came knocking on our doorstep so you all know what it is capable of. HJowever, no civilians were harmed when they attacked Naruto, _why_ is that?" Hari asked rhetorically, mostly directing this simple question towards the civilians. He could see that a few of them realized this fact though most of them were still oblivious.

"H-he is just biding his time, waiting to catch us off-guard." a civilian councilwoman stuttered out unconvincingly.

"Is that so? Then why are you still here then?" Hari asked a matter of factly. "If Naruto is the demon that you all fear then shouldn't you leave Konoha to somewhere safe and out of his reach? No, I don't think you get my point. You see, like everyone in the village, except for a chosen few of course, you're using the boy as a scapegoat to punish the demon, the demon who is quite separate from the boy."

"What do you mean separate?" asked Tsume who was inwardly laughing at how the Haruno was getting his just-deserts. Also, she was quite interested in the conversation since only the Hokage knew of the extent of the Yondaime's seal that kept the Kyuubi at bay.

"That's what I said, IT and Naruto are quite separate thanks to the Yondaime Hokage's seals. And to those who realized that, I mentioned seals, as in plural, and not seal. IT is contained by no less than two seals with Naruto being the third _living_ seal - his sheer willpower keeping IT at bay." said Hari before snapping his fingers, a folder appeared between his thumb and index finger. "This file contains all the information of the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki when I visited Suna a few years back. Thanks to some mahoujutsu techniques that will remain nameless, I was able to glean the true extent of the seal that held the sand demon at bay. What I found was quite…shocking."

Hari floated the folder and cast a Gemino charm on it, multiplying it so everyone had a copy. He floated the folders to everyone in the room, even to the three ANBU who hid in the shadows who were surprised at having a folder floating in front of them; they took it since it was for them after all.

Silence reigned in the council chamber as everyone read and digested the information Hari provided. Quite a lot of the civilian council winced at what they read while the shinobi council was subjected to an eye-opener concerning the truth about Suna's jinchuuriki.

"As you can see, the folder contains factual detail of the Ichibi jinchuuriki, ranging from his abilities, the status of his seal, his chakra reserves, even his overall health. I'm sure that this information needs updating since it's been almost seven years since first saw him. I clearly noted there that I ran a scan on his mind and heard another voice that was giving instructions to the boy, instructions to kill and spill everyone's blood" Hari pointed out, making everyone pale in fear while a few were green with disgust. "The seals that hold the demon inside Naruto are quite powerful, erecting a shield of sorts that separates the two consciousness apart. Also, the nature of Naruto's seals holding the demon at bay made sure that it cannot influence or coerce the gaki into opening its cagel which is also an impossibility since I was able to determine that the seal has a fail-safe on it, half the lock inside the boy's soul while the other lock is….somewhere else. Where? I don't know. The Yondaime was definitely a genius when it came to sealing and the two that contained the demon inside Naruto was superbly done. Not to mention that the seals are powered by Naruto's chakra, as well as his willpower."

"So what does this all mean, Hari?" asked the Hokage. It was a pre-arranged signal to reveal the next set of truth concerning the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"This means, Hokage-sama, that every traumatizing experience Naruto suffered under the civilians would have broken the boy's will, giving IT a surefire way to escape and wreak havoc on Konoha all over again." Hari said in a cheerful voice that unnerved everyone in the room. "This time, however; you guys don't have the Yondaime to seal the thing back again."

"So you mean to say that every time Naruto was beaten to an inch of his life, we were this close…" said Tsume before pausing when the implication of everything that happened to the boy dropped down on them.

"To releasing the demon inside him?" Hari asked with a tilt of his head. "Yes. Very close, Tsume-sama. If Naruto dies then the seals keeping the demon inside his body breaks and releasing the prisoner trapped behind it. If Naruto's willpower breaks after each attack then the demon _can_ easily influence the boy to release the seal."

The Hokage, the shinobi council, and some of the civilian council were giving Haruno Sakaki a look of pure loathing. The Haruno clan head shrank into his chair as everyone's killing intent was directed at him. Hari was impressed that civilians could even produce one.

A civilian councilman that Hari recognized as the brother of the man he healed when he first came to Konoha stood up and addressed everyone in the room with a determined voice.

"I move to have the petition of terminating Uzumaki Naruto's adoption to the Mahora Clan dropped and _never_ to be brought up again. The civilian council supports his adoption into your clan, Mahora-dono." He looked at his peers with a glare, daring for them to counter his declaration. No one spoke from his side of the room since they all knew what almost happened thanks to their actions towards Naruto.

"I think I speak for _everyone_ in the shinobi council that we support your declaration." said the Hokage with the shinobi council nodding their heads in agreement. Even Danzo and the rest of the elders were in full agreement. They definitely didn't want the Kyuubi to come out and wreak havoc on them all. "The matter of Naruto's adoption will no longer be discussed and everything revealed in this room will be a S-class secret, punishable by death. Understood?"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Hari mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done.

* * *

**End of chapter 11.**

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12. But before that, let me do this first:**

**DustBunnyQueen:** Thank for the info about tigers. I'll correct it as soon as I get the chance. I loved how you described a tiger's personality…'Leave me or I'll maul you'. He he he he he.

**Michaelsuave:** You know, I never thought of it that way. I think I'll include that in future chapters. Kudos for pointing it out to me.

**Devilmaycare:** Noted. I plan to let Hari/Harry show off his abilities in the future, and not just his Lightning techniques.

**On with the story. **

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Hey guys, starting from this chapter, there will be a lot of scene breaks featuring POV's of both Hari/Harry and Naruto. I don't want to concentrate too much on Naruto except for a few key scenes though both he and Hari/Harry would play a major role in various plots in future chapters. Cheers._

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 12: Sandy Moments**

Naruto was a happy camper. Not only was he getting stronger through the training program his sensei subjected him to, he now had a family to call his own.

Since two days ago, he was now known as Mahora-Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't want to get rid of his original surname since it was his birthright. His sensei had no problems with that as long as he added 'Mahora' as a last name to cement his inclusion into the clan.

Naruto was currently in the training ground trying to get his chakra under control. Ever since the blood adoption and the revelation of the many changes in his body, he subjected himself to the training regiment his sensei gave to him when he was first assigned to him as an apprentice.

Considering that chakra control was his primary problem, he started doing the basics again. He didn't like it but he had to do it or suffer afterwards.

When his sensei left for the Hokage's office to finalize the paperwork for his adoption into the clan, Naruto took advantage of the lack of supervision to try out a technique to see if there were any changes to how he could mold chakra.

To put it simply, his 'test' was pretty much destructive.

Considering that he didn't have full control over his overly-large chakra reserves, Haku cautioned him to try a minor jutsu so he won't be causing wide-spread destruction just in case it came out overpowered. It was a good idea too since his Drilling Air Bullet shredded a dozen trees before dissipating.

Naruto vowed to avoid doing any jutsus until such time he could control his potent chakra.

* * *

Naruto was taking a different approach in controlling his chakra as suggested by his sensei and clan head.

His first attempt at chakra control involved a hundred clones. It worked somewhat but Hari had to put a stop to it since his clones still had too much chakra in their constructs to properly channel the energy without destroy the tree.

The second attempt went smoother, bringing out half a thousand clones to bear with Tree Climbing; though his clones still had too much chakra to properly channel though the damages was lesser compared to his first attempt.

The third attempt involved a thousand clones and Naruto settled into that routine seeing that his clones weren't being blasted out of their respective trees.

While his clones were busy making a mess of the trees, Naruto was currently sitting down on the forest floor in a meditative posture, internally mapping his chakra to properly control it. After accidentally going into a deep trance, he found himself in front of Kyuubi's cage.

"Damn it!" cursed Naruto. "I think I went deeper than expected."

"**Welcome, Naruto."**

Naruto tensed. "Kyuubi?" he asked tentatively while peering into the darkness of the cage.

Kyuubi exited the darkness and shown himself to the blonde.

"**You were expecting someone else?" **Kyuubi asked sarcastically.

Naruto rolled his eyes before relaxing since the Kyuubi wasn't that scary if it was joking around. "Har har. Anyway, how do I get out of here?"

"**Am I really that bad of a company that you are already trying to find a way to exit from here without even bothering to talk to me?"** Kyuubi asked in mock-hurt, putting a paw just over his heart to emphasize the statement.

"I never knew you were a drama queen, furball." Naruto said with a smirk though it was wiped out immediately when Kyuubi growled.

"**Just so you know; I'm a male so the perfect term is drama **_**king**_**."** Kyuubi corrected. **"Anyway, you don't have to leave right away. This is the perfect opportunity for us to talk."**

Naruto tiled his head to the side, confused. "Talk about what?"

"**The changes in **_**your**_** body and the training I will be putting you through to properly synchronize with me so you can use my chakra without going berserk."** Kyuubi stated, sitting on his haunches, tails lazily waving behind him.

"Training?" asked Naruto, perking up a bit. "What do you mean 'berserk'? Is that a side-effect to using your chakra?"

Kyuubi sighed before giving Naruto a look that spoke volumes. **"I forgot that you humans don't know much about us bijuus." **Kyuubi stated. **"What do you know about **_**us**_**?"**

"You mean the nine bijuus?" Naruto asked the bijuu who nodded. "Not much to be honest. The books I read in the Konoha Library and from the books that Hari-sensei has didn't really provide much information about you and the rest of your…ummm…family?"

"**Yes, they are **_**family**_**, so to speak. Continue."**

"Anyway, all the books said that the bijuus are massive amounts of potent chakra with a consciousness. That's it." Naruto stated causing the bijuu to sigh in annoyance.

"**This is going to take a while."** Kyuubi lamented. **"From the lack of knowledge of the tailed beasts, I suggest that we start off with a history lesson before we go in the actual training."**

"Not another history lesson." Naruto groaned. "I had enough of reading boring history books from my sensei's training program."

"**Man it up, kit. History is very important if you really want to know how we bijuus came about. If you know the truth then you will find it easier to synchronize with me even with this seal getting in the way."**

"Seal?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

Kyuubi flicked one of his tails and pointed it at the center of the large cage where the paper with 'Seal' written on its face was located.

"**This seal. This is your mind's representation of the lock that keeps me imprisoned. The paper is actually the primary defense, making sure that I am unable to influence or control you from your mind. Behind the paper is a locking mechanism that stops me from gaining control of you, period. I'm not sure what else but I know that the Yondaime placed another countermeasure just in case I escaped though I don't see that happening anytime soon."**

Naruto stared at Kyuubi for a while with the bijuu doing the same to him. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto finally asked the question that's been bugging him for a while now.

"So are those the only function of the seal?" asked Naruto, wanting to know more.

"**Nope."** Kyuubi said in annoyance, really hating this part of the function of the seal keeping him locked inside the boy. **"The seal is actually not only a defense mechanism but also a supplementary one to your own. With the seal in place, it constantly drains my demonic chakra, converts it to human chakra, and adds it to your own reserves. This is actually the reason why you have such a large amount of chakra in your body, not to mention increasing your already potent healing factor thanks to the excess chakra that you can safely handle. The seal also drains a lot of my chakra to heal you in case your health borders on being dangerous."**

"So you mean I'm killing you?" Naruto shouted in indignation which caught Kyuubi by surprise.

"**Aren't you happy that I'm slowly being killed inside you?"** Kyuubi asked curiously.

"Er, no, um…not really." Naruto stammered, not liking the idea of being interrogated by the most powerful bijuu in the elemental nation.

Kyuubi chuckled. **"You're an interesting one, kit. Makes me wonder sometimes if I'm lucky to be sealed inside you."** the bijuu noted. **"Anyway, to answer your question, no, I'm not getting killed by the seal leeching my chakra. I am constantly replenishing my chakra reserves so there is no fear of running out of it anytime soon. In fact, I'll be staying with you until you die since the seal is designed to snuff my life out if you happen to die, which I find impossible considering the boost you got to your healing factor, making you almost un-killable if you avoid getting your vitals damaged or destroyed."**

"Oh." Naruto said in relief. He didn't know why he was relieved that he wasn't killing the bijuu sealed inside him. For the blonde, it was quite confusing.

"**Oh indeed."** Kyuubi said with a hearty chuckle**. "Anyway, we need to talk about your training. We can discuss history of the bijuus later since you won't be using my chakra anytime soon considering your own rivals that of the Ichibi bordering on Nibi's."**

"What training are we talking about here?" asked Naruto cautiously. He didn't know why but the fox reminded him of his sensei, especially the gleam in the bijuus eyes when he mentioned training.

"**You body is now wired to handle a large amount of my chakra due to the influx of magical energy into your system. However, considering that my chakra is demonic in nature, it tends to turn our containers into berserkers if the body is given too much demonic chakra it can safely handle. My training is quite simple. I am going to infuse you with a tails-worth of my chakra for one hour every day. We are going to slowly increase your body's tolerance to demonic chakra. If you can handle that much power without bloodlust controlling you then I'll add more until such time that you're immune to it."**

"Bloodlust?" exclaimed Naruto. He knew of bloodlust, of course; but he didn't suffer from such a problem thanks to his desire to avoid taking a life. Sure, he loved fighting as the next person but he didn't want to take it too far that would end up killing his opponent.

"**Demonic chakra is chaotic by nature and humans weren't designed to handle it. Most jinchuuriki can handle a bijuu's chakra thanks to the seal that kept us inside. However, the amount of chakra is determined by the potency of the seal used. In your case, you are somewhat protected by the Yondaime's seal, giving you a minimum threshold for you to use my demonic chakra without the heat of battle controlling you. However, if you want to increase that threshold then you need to constantly get used to my chakra until such a time you become immune to it."**

"I see." Naruto nodded as he understood what the fox was implying. "You told me that my body is wired to use your chakra without problems. Can you explain that?"

"**Easily. A bijuu's chakra is acidic to humans. Despite having tolerance or immunity towards it, will still take damage according to the amount of chakra they are channeling from us. However, the boost in your healing factor negates that problem so you need not worry about your body breaking down on you when you channel large amounts of my chakra since it heals the damage almost immediately."**

Naruto digested the information give to him by Kyuubi as he stared at the fox. He decided to get his curiosity over the done with.

"I want you to be honest with me, Kyu, why are you being nice to me?" Naruto asked bluntly.

The fox stared at Naruto for a bit before released a loud sigh.

"**To be honest about it, I don't **_**want**_** to be nice to you but I know that I will gain nothing by being a 'malicious and evil bijuu' to my container." **Kyuubi admitted before an affronted look crossed his muzzled face. **"Kyu?"**

"I don't know if you have a name so I decided to give you one." Naruto said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "If you're not what people _say_ you are then why _did_ you attack Konoha?"

"**Ah, **_**that**_** is a lesson for a later date."** Kyuubi said with a mischievous grin that made Naruto pout at having his curiosity unanswered. **"If you prove yourself to me then I will tell you. Deal?"**

"_How_ am I going to prove myself to a bijuu?" Naruto asked sarcastically which made the bijuu grin at him.

"**Simple, kit. I want you to train hard. Become the strongest in the world. Bring down your enemies. That's all I ask. Prove yourself worthy of my power then I will answer all your questions." **Kyuubi said with an evil grin on his face. **"Deal?"**

"Deal!" Naruto said immediately since that was what he planned to do anyway in order to become a powerful shinobi and eventually, to become the Hokage. "Now, when are we going to start training?"

"**Now."** Kyuubi said with a grin before a wave of red chakra emanated from the cage towards a startled jinchuuriki.

* * *

Naruto's eyes immediately shot open as he felt Kyuubi's chakra entering his coils. His breathing became ragged as he endured the potent energy intermingling with his own, flooding his entire body with demonic chakra. His urge for battle heightened, finally understanding what the bijuu meant about bloodlust.

A few of his clones looked at him with concern though one of them decided to speak up.

"What's happening boss?" the clone asked in a shrill voice, feeling the malicious energy coming from his creator.

Naruto slowly stood up from his meditation pose, panting from the exertion of keeping the Kyuubi's chakra from overwhelming his senses. Sure, he was dealing with it but the alien energy was currently trying to fight for dominance. He couldn't feel Kyuubi's awareness but he could feel the potency of the bijuu's chakra fighting his own.

No wonder his tenant wanted him to train with his energy. If he wasn't forewarned of this happening, he would have gone berserk already.

"No…worries, guys." Naruto assured his clones in between pants. "Just Kyuubi's…training. Furball wanted me…ugh…to get acquainted with his chakra so I can d-develop an immunity for its use in the…argh…future."

The clones who heard that statement nodded nervously before going back to their individual chakra control exercise, trusting the boss not to go bijuu mode on them.

Naruto merely grunted as he tried to withstand Kyuubi's demonic energy coursing through his veins.

"_Shit, only below five minutes and I'm already tired as hell. This training sucks."_ Naruto mentally cursed as he braced himself when he felt another burst of his tenant's chakra running through his veins. The blonde couldn't help but hear Kyuubi's laughter in his mind.

"_Sadistic fox."_He mentally growled before another bout of pain ran through his body.

* * *

Hari was enjoying a bottle of Butterbeer when he felt an energy coming from behind the clan house; an energy that he was all-too familiar with.

"Shit!" Hari cursed as he apparated out of his study to the training ground. What he saw made his blood run cold.

There in the middle of the training ground amidst the training shadow clones was Naruto, covered in a thick coat of thick red chakra. The blonde's eyes were screwed shut and his body was trembling, fists clenching and unclenching. The red chakra was forming a shape, a shape that resembled that of a certain nine-tailed bijuu.

"WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS ARE YOU DOING, BRAT!" shouted Hari which immediately caught the blonde's attention.

"H-hey, s-sensei." Naruto greeted sheepishly before grunting as a wave of demonic chakra flooded his system. The shockwave that followed was almost enough to knock Hari off his feet if he didn't channel chakra in time to stay rooted to the ground.

"DON'T _SENSEI_ ME, GAKI!" shouted Hari as he pulled out the Elder Wand to prepare for a confrontation. He didn't know what the boy was doing but it was plainly clear that the boy was channeling Kyuubi's chakra. "WHY ARE YOU CHANNELING THE FOX'S CHAKRA? I KNOW YOU WERE A BIT CRAZY BUT I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE _THIS_ CRAZY!"

"T-this is…t-training, sensei." Naruto managed to say in between grunts. Hari managed to calm himself down a bit since Naruto was in complete control of his senses.

"Explain." Hari demanded but when he saw that Naruto could not answer him immediately. He revised his plan to get information. "Nevermind. I'll find out myself." He pointed the Elder Wand at Naruto's forehead and incanted the spell.

"_**Legilimens!" **_

Hari's eyes glazed as he reviewed the memory of Naruto talking to Kyuubi and the bijuus idea of training. He couldn't help but agree with the fox that it was a good idea to get Naruto trained in using his chakra but to channel a tails-worth? A tail of chakra was said to be high-kage level, not to mention its potency considering that it was demon's chakra instead of a human. It was an insane training to say the least. He needed to do a little bit of damage control before things get out of hand. It was a good thing that the Mahora clan compound was properly warded so any energy signatures within were masked from outside detection.

Hari exited Naruto's mind and spent a few seconds studying the struggling blonde. He didn't know how to stop the flow of Kyuubi's chakra into his apprentice but he had an idea that might possibly work.

"_**Finite Incantatem!"**_ whispered Hari with the Elder Wand pointing at Naruto.

Nothing happened at first but it was a few seconds later that the red cloak of Kyuubi's chakra dissipated into nothingness, making Naruto sigh in relief.

"What did you do?" asked Naruto before taking a deep breath before wincing. "Kyuubi is _screaming_ at you right now, demanding to know what you did in stopping his chakra and returning it back to him."

"You can _talk_ to Kyuubi without going into a trance?" Hari asked surprised since he didn't know that a mental connection was possible between the two considering the seal was putting up a shield between them.

Naruto's eyes glazed, an indication that the blonde was conversing with his tenant. It was a few minutes later that Naruto's concentration returned to the land of the living.

"Kyuubi said that it is now _possible_ but it takes a lot of his energy to do so since he had to fight with the seal in order to establish a connection. He has access to my senses though, and can practically see through my eyes if he really took the time to do it. He wasn't able to do it before the adoption but he had no problems doing so afterwards." Naruto informed his sensei.

"Interesting." Hari rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "Did he say anything else?"

Naruto shook his head in negative. "No, sensei. If you want, I can ask him that question later when I visit him in my mindscape." He offered.

"Please do." Hari answered with a nod before remembering the question Naruto, or in this case, Kyuubi asked him. "To answer your question, what I did the universal spell cancellation charm that cancels any outside effect on a person, well, except from the effects of more powerful spells." answered Hari, stowing the Elder Wand back into its sheath. "I didn't know if it would work but its good thing that it did."

To be honest, Hari himself didn't know why it worked but chalked it up to the power of the Elder Wand to make impossible things possible. His wand was just cool like that.

"Thanks, sensei." Naruto said gratefully before making a face. "I didn't realize that channeling furball's chakra was going to be difficult and tiring."

"That should be normal since channeling a chakra alien to your own should be next to impossible. Anyway, next time you train with Kyuubi's chakra, please tell _me_ in advance so I can supervise. You already know that demon chakra is many times more potent than human chakra. Even if your body is now wired to channel Kyuubi's chakra easily, it is not a good idea to experiment without someone watching to bail you out." rebuked Hari causing Naruto to look at the ground in shame. "Don't worry about it too much, gaki. Just make sure that you inform me in the future if you're going to experiment. How was it anyway?"

"Hard. If _that_ was a tails-worth of chakra, I don't know what would happen if I channel more." Naruto said solemnly.

Hari scowled at that revelation. "I disagree with Kyuubi's training method of making you use that much chakra during your first time." he said with an irritated grunt.

"What do you suggest then, sensei?" asked Naruto with a hopeful look on his face.

Hari thought for a bit before answering.

"I suggest that you talk to Kyuubi in your mindscape again. Tell him that I _suggested_ that you take it slow. Maybe a tenth of a tail's worth of chakra would suffice, increasing the amount little by little as you get used to it. Considering how you were struggling earlier, I suggest that you follow my advice - take in a little demon chakra, get used to it before adding some more. It's better to take this slow than bungle up the whole thing."

"Bungle up?"

"If you channel too much then it is possible that you're going to explode and take anything and everyone near you along for the ride." Hari said bluntly causing Naruto to pale.

"Hai, sensei." The blonde said immediately since the thought of exploding because of Kyuubi's chakra didn't appeal to him.

"Which reminds me," said Hari, causing Naruto to look up at curiously. "Can you channel Kyuubi's chakra without him giving it to you?"

Naruto frowned. He honestly never thought of that. "I'm not sure. I mean, when I was channeling Kyuubi's chakra earlier, that was because Kyuubi practically rammed it into me. I'm not sure if I can call up his chakra anytime I want to."

"Hm, I think the Yondaime's seal was designed to make sure that _you_ can use his chakra anytime." Hari mused. "Ask Kyuubi. If you can use his chakra on your own volition then I suggest that you experiment with it. Start small. How's your chakra control?"

Naruto waved his hand over to the clones trying to reach the top of their respective trees. "As you can see, it's pretty slow." the blonde said with a huff of irritation.

Hari grinned before ruffling Naruto's hair, much to the blonde's annoyance.

"Don't worry about it, gaki." Hari assured his apprentice. "With the number of clones you're using for this exercise, you'll achieve the same control you had before the adoption in no time. For now, avoid channeling demonic chakra while your control is down. We don't know what would happen if you made a mistake of pulling in more than you can safely handle."

"Don't worry, sensei. I don't think I'll be experimenting with it on my own anytime soon." Naruto said with a shudder, the image of him exploding into atoms ran through his mind.

Hari nodded; glad that his apprentice had a good head between his shoulders.

"Good. If you're going to practice Kyuubi's chakra then I suggest you don't leave the estate. I have wards in place that will mask any energy inside from outside detection. If you channel Kyuubi's chakra outside the estate's boundaries then you can be sure that the ANBU would be on your hide the moment you bring it out. I don't think I need to tell what would happen if they see you with that red chakra cloak on. Understood?"

"Hai, sensei." Naruto agreed. He had no intentions of training outside the Mahora compound anyway. He saw the training grounds around the village and he couldn't deny the fact that the Mohara clan had the best facilities to learn the shinobi arts. Naruto knew that his sensei made it that way.

"Great. Also, if you can hold on to a tail of chakra for an hour, make sure you tell me."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked curiously.

Hari eyes gleamed mischievously. "To spar, of course." This shocked the blonde while old feeling ran down his spine. "Maintaining demonic chakra is one thing, but using it in a battle scenario is a whole different ballgame. Anyway, good luck on your…training."

Naruto shivered as he watched his sensei walked back into the main house while whistling a merry tune and a glazed look in his eyes.

* * *

It was a week later that Naruto and Haku was introduced to their third teammate.

Around an hour after breakfast, Hari received a missive from the Hokage. He was a bit tightlipped about the letter when Haku and Naruto asked what it was about. Sano would have pestered him too being the curious sort but he wasn't around since he was with a group of Chuunins doing border patrol for the week.

Fifteen minutes later, Hari returned accompanied by boy with two _tantos_ strapped on his back, forming an X with both handles over his shoulders, making it easy for him to draw on short notice. He was around Haku's age, blue-black hair, wearing black ANBU pants, a blue shirt covered by a dark brown coat. His _hitai-ate_ was tied around his head clearly showing everyone that he was a Leaf shinobi.

After bringing everyone to the training ground, Hari introduced the new member to Team Mahora.

"Guys, I want you to meet Sato Kenji, a Genin who graduated a year before Naruto. His Genin teammates were killed in an ambush with him and his Jounin sensei being the only survivor. He was placed on reserve, doing D-rank missions within the confines of the village while waiting for a team to take him on to complete the mandated numbers in a Genin cell. He's going to be your new teammate, completing Team Mahora and clearing you for the Chuunin Exams that would be held here in Konoha in five weeks." said Hari with a smile before patting Kenji on the back. "Why don't you introduce yourself, Kenji so we can get started?"

Kenji nodded, faced Naruto and Haku, both of whom had a curious look on their faces.

"My name is Kenji Sato, Genin and formerly a part of Team 14. As you have heard from Hari-sensei, my team was ambushed a few months back with only me and Takahaki-sensei as the only survivor. Since it is mandated for a Genin cell to have three Genins and a Jounin, Team 14 was disbanded and I was put on reserve to wait for the next available team to accept me. To make sure that my shinobi license remains active, the Hokage assigned me a D-rank mission twice a week. As of today, I will be part of your team as the third member." Kenji said with a smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you, Kenji, and welcome to Team Mahora." said Haku with a bow.

"Welcome aboard, Kenji!" Naruto quipped happily, making Kenji grin at him. "You came at a great time. If you didn't join then we wouldn't have been qualified for the Chuunin Exam."

Kenji nodded in agreement. "That is what Hari-sensei told me during our meeting with the Hokage." said the new member of Team Mahora said with a grin on his face. It was good to be in a team again. Sure, he missed his teammates but he already gotten over their deaths a week after the incident since he wasn't that close to them to begin with.

"I have some business to run so I'll leave you guys here for an hour." said Hari, smiling at the three teens. "When I return, we will discuss Kenji's training since his previous sensei didn't continue with his shinobi education so make use of the time to get to know each other."

Haku and Naruto nodded though Kenji gave Hari a deep bow.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Hari-sensei. I won't let you down, I promise." said Kenji with determination on his face. He knew of his new sensei's reputation, as well as Naruto thanks to the Hokage briefing him of his new team's status within the Konoha shinobi ranks. To be honest, he was happy to be placed in such a powerful team, knowing that he would be trained to become strong in order to compliment their skill set.

"Don't worry about it, gaki. Glad to have you on board. Anyway, I'm off!" said Hari before disappearing from the training ground accompanied by a soft crack. This startled Kenji a bit before turning to Haku and Naruto with a questioning look on his face.

"Did I hear right? Did he just break the sound barrier?" Kenji asked in both awe and disbelief.

Naruto laughed while Haku simply smiled.

"Nah." Naruto said with a shake of his head. "Don't worry about it, Kenji. You'll get be acquainted with the…_quirks_ of the Mahora Clan soon enough."

Kenji just stared at Naruto in confusion which prompted Haku to take up the slack.

"Uh no, he didn't break the sound barrier. That wasn't a speed technique. Something similar to Shunshin but not" said Haku. "Let's just say that the Mahora Clan has a unique bloodline and leave it at that. We'll let Hari-sama explain that to you in detail when he comes back since only _he_ has the authority to release clan information to newbies."

"Newbies?" Kenji asked while pointing to himself. Naruto nodded.

"Your part of the team now. So that makes you an honorary member of Mahora. Don't worry, all will be revealed soon." Naruto assured him before his stomach growled…again. "So, have you had breakfast yet?"

Haku and Kenji laughed before following Naruto into the house to grab a bite of breakfast for the second time.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but like Kenji and he was quite sure that Haku was of the same sentiment.

After their brief introduction, the now-complete Team Mahora adjourned to the kitchens where the elves served them a hearty breakfast, Naruto getting a double portion because he was too hungry from the effort of channeling Kyuubi's chakra.

Breakfast was spent with Haku and Naruto interrogating Kenji and answering their new teammate's questions concerning their abilities and skill set, as well as getting to know each other personally to compliment their soon-to-be teamwork.

They discovered that Kenji was a budding swordsman, specializing in short to mid-range combat. Unfortunately for him, he came from a civilian stock so he only had average chakra reserves, making him unable to learn elemental jutsus to compliment his weakness; though he could easily learn D to C-rank jutsus with his chakra amount, his previous sensei didn't bother to do so but instead forced Kenji to concentrate on his sword skills.

Speaking of jutsus, Kenji already mastered the basic Academy jutsus, namely Bunshin no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and Henge no Jutsu, but nothing else. Haku assured him that it was not a problem since the Mahora shinobi library was on par, if not way better, than the Konoha Library in terms of shinobi techniques and strategies. Kenji practically drooled when he heard that since it has been his dream to do elemental jutsus ever since he found out that he had an affinity over _Katon (Fire Release)._

Kenji was a bit shy of his skill set when Haku and Naruto informed him of their specialties, making him nervous of his placement in the team since he couldn't hope to compare to the two Mahora's abilities. However, Naruto assured him that Hari would make sure that he would be up to par, if not closer, to the both him and Haku's abilities before the Chuunin Exam. If he couldn't reach such a level then he would be taught skills that would prove valuable in any situation.

When Kenji asked how it was possible, Naruto told him his story, minus being a jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, detailing how Hari trained him to rise up from being the dead-last of the Academy.

Kenji had a hopeful expression on his face when he heard that and couldn't wait to start training but he had an apprehensive look on his face when he saw Naruto's evil grin.

When Hari arrived from his business (actually, he went to meet with Kenji's former sensei and _berated_ the man for not properly training Kenji even if they were no longer a team), he immediately called everyone out to the training ground to test Kenji to see where he was in terms of skills and proficiency.

True to Naruto's prediction, Hari immediately placed Kenji on the ringer, allowing the boy to go all out with his abilities in order to properly gauge him. Despite the lack of jutsus, Kenji was a very capable swordsman; being ambidextrous, he could wield his _tantos_ with equal deadliness, able to switch from offense to defense and vice versa, in a blink of an eye. His speed was passable but there was room for improvement and the boy's stamina was subpar compared to Haku since comparing Kenji to Naruto was like comparing an ant to an elephant. There was no comparison.

After the skill assessment, Hari informed everyone that Kenji would be undergoing intensive training under him for three weeks before instructing Naruto and Haku to do their own training for now since he would be focusing on their new teammate. The duo didn't mind since Kenji would become a great asset to the team if he grew in skill under their sensei's training program.

The sadistic gleam in Hari's eyes made Naruto pity Kenji for what his new teammate was about to experience under the _tender_ tutelage of their sensei.

* * *

For three weeks, Kenji was in hell…literally.

Now he knew why Naruto gave him an evil grin upon mention of training. It was now a proven fact in Kenji's book that Mahora Hari was a sadistic bastard and he knew that Naruto felt the same.

After the spar, Kenji was commanded by Hari to move into one of the spare houses in the Mahora compound. He had no problems with that since he was an orphan and was renting an apartment being paid by the various D-rank missions he performed after Team 14 was disbanded.

When the first day of training ended, Kenji finally understood why he was asked to move in.

The training was brutal, leaving his stamina at an all-time low, bruises and wounds littered his body, as well as some burns here and there thanks to his new sensei's penchant for lightning.

The first day of training started with Hari giving him a set of chakra weights. His excitement over his new training gear dampened when his sensei set the weights to 30 pounds each, totaling to 120 pounds added to his body weight to be increased every week. He was informed by his new sensei that his goal was to reach 200 pounds when their tree-week training program comes to a close.

After a few minutes of getting used to the weights, he was commanded to run laps for two hours non-stop. He persevered with the laps because his sensei hit his rump with a lightning bolt when he slowed down. He didn't stop after that since he knew that his sensei would be doing that a lot from now on if he slacked on his training.

He was practically dead on his feet after the two-hour marathon around the training ground though that was remedied when his sensei gave him a vial of…something to drink. After downing the content of the vial; he could feel his stamina returning at an astounding rate. When Kenji asked what that vial was, he was informed that it was one of the few potions that the Mahora Clan specialized on, a _Pepper-Up Potion _that had the effect of refilling ones chakra and stamina to its original state to he was warned that it would only be used once a day to avoid getting addicted to it.

Kenji was informed that the potion would be used every time it was needed during their three-week training program to ensure its success, which made him sigh in relief.

After the two-hour lap with his energy back to full, he was subjected to a two-hour taijutsu spar followed by another two hours of kenjutsu.

Since Kenji only had the Academy taijutsu style to fall back on, Hari made a point to improve it through mastery and instructed Kenji to spend two hours in the library to find a style that would suit him. He was instructed NOT to search for any jutsus for the first week since his studies would be focused on nothing but taijutsu.

The kenjutsu spar was one-sided; meaning, Kenji would do his very best to land a hit on his sensei using his _tantos_. He couldn't get a hit no matter what he tried, even through underhanded means. When he asked why he needed to practice kenjutsu with someone who didn't even use a sword, Hari informed him that it would improve the speed and accuracy of his swings against a moving opponent.

Of course, Kenji demanded a _proper_ kenjutsu spar but immediately regretted it when his sensei brought out a huge zanbatou from nowhere with a sadistic grin on his face.

After an hour of practically running away from a maniacally laughing Mahora Hari, Kenji decided to forgo future spars and continued to simply improve his speed and accuracy with his two swords. He wasn't suicidal, thank you very much.

The smug grin on Hari's face made Kenji itch to slice it off but he knew that it was impossible in his current skill level.

The whole afternoon was spent doing strength and speed training exercises, leaving him too tired to even go to his room afterwards. Thankfully, his sensei gave him a bunch of potions to enhance his healing rate so his muscles would improve faster than normal.

The evenings before bed time were spent in the library where he searched for a taijutsu style that would compliment his build. It was on his third day of first week of training that he settled on a taijutsu style that focused on building up his leg power. The style was depicted in a book written by Wong Fei Hung, specializing in the _No-Shadow Kick Shaolin Kung Fu_, which his sensei approved of since it would compliment his kenjutsu through footwork.

The second and third week of training had only a few slight alterations. His physical training program continued, along with his taijutsu (training and mastering No-Shadow Kick Shaolin Kung Fu) and dual-wielding kenjutsu.

Instead of looking up taijutsu styles, Hari gave Kenji permission to look for fire-based jutsus to compliment his style. Aside from that, Kenji was given a scroll containing a supplementary jutsu for him to master – the _Chamelon Shade Technique_, giving him the ability to blend the light around him to become invisible to the naked eye. Also, the chakra requirement of this jutsu made it possible for Kenji to keep it up for hours without tiring out.

Another supplementary jutsu he needed to learn was _Shunshin no Jutsu_ since it was an effective way to cut down travel time and it wouldn't be good for him to not have the technique under his belt since Haku and Naruto already mastered it.

When Kenji asked why he needed to master _Chameleon Shade _before the Chuunin Exams, his sensei informed him that he would be the stealth expert of the team since Naruto was power and Haku was speed. This would give their team a balanced build that would fit any scenarios.

Kenji couldn't help but agree so he trained with the jutsu in earnest to help the team in the coming exam.

Such was the case; Kenji spent the remaining time in his personalized training program to properly master _Chameleon Shade_ to the point he could activate it without hand seals along with _Shunshin,_ as well as being proficient with some fire jutsus that his sensei recommended for him to learn.

All-in-all, Kenji was quite happy with his team and was looking forward to working out the kinks on their teamwork along with his fellow teammates.

* * *

Naruto was currently on a leisurely stroll around the village. Next week was the Chuunin Exam and his sensei-slash-clan-head suggested that he and his teammates take the week off doing what they wanted to do, either fun or training, to relax. They spent last week doing teamwork exercises non-stop to increase the proficiency on their collaboration, as well as practicing a few team-based strategies for different scenarios.

In all of their exercises, Naruto couldn't help but be happy with his team. Even Kenji was able to go toe-to-toe with what they could do, especially in stealth and surprise attacks, thanks to their sensei's teachings. To say that Kenji became stronger after joining Team Mahora was an understatement.

On his personal training, he finally got his chakra control back thanks to thousands of shadow clones doing tree climbing and water walking every day for one and a half weeks. His sensei promised him a Jounin-level chakra control AFTER the Chuunin Exams so he was looking forward to it.

He also worked with his new-improved strength, able to control it to a point that he need not worry about causing property damage, unless if he lost control, of course.

Naruto was on his way to the Hokage Monument to relax in his usual spot (on top of the Yondaime's bust) when he heard a commotion. He looked to his left to see Konohamaru being bullied by a teen wearing a…black cat suit and face paint? The Suna _hitai-ate_ was quite visible on his forehead.

"Stop it, Kankuro." a blonde girl carrying a giant metal fan was pleading to the teen holding Konohamaru. "Put the kid down before _he_ finds out."

"Not this time, Temari. Besides, Gaara's not around so there's nothing to worry about." growled Kankuro. "This damn brat rammed into me and I'm not letting him go without punishment." He threw a punch towards a whimpering Konohamaru but it didn't connect.

Everything happened so fast that it was lucky that no one blinked. They saw Konohamaru engulfed in a puff of smoke to be replaced by Naruto who immediately grabbed the punch and used some of his strength to squeeze the life out of it, making Kankuro wince in pain.

"Don't you think it's _unwise_ to cause trouble in a place that is clearly _not_ your territory?" Naruto said calmly, emphasizing his point by increasing the strength of his grip. This time, Kankuro produced a whimper of pain as he felt two of his fingers crack.

"_Whoever this boy is, his strength is insane!" _ Kankuro inwardly cursed, channeling chakra to his hand to give it a bit of strength to counter the blonde's own. However, it didn't do any good since the blonde was relatively stronger than him.

"Let go, brat!" growled Kankuro, trying his best not to scream in pain.

Naruto simply looked at him for a few seconds before using his free hand to grab Kankuro's wrist and threw him over his shoulder, making said boy fly over the blonde's shoulder to smack the ground behind him with an audible thud. Seeing the daze look in the boy's eyes, Naruto nodded before walking back to Konohamaru who was huddled fearfully with his two friends, Moegi and Udon.

"You alright there, Kono?" Naruto asked the Sandaime's grandson, while giving the boy a critical eye to see if there were any injuries. He was glad that he intervened just in time since the boy didn't have any. The repercussion of a Suna shinobi causing harm to the Hokage's grandson would have been very…dire.

"Thanks for saving me, boss." Konohamaru shouted with awe in his face.

Naruto simply smiled down at the boy and ruffled his hair.

"No problem, gaki. Why don't you go and play somewhere else. The Chuunin Exam is going to be held here in our village so I suggest that you lay low for a while to avoid meeting shinobis from other countries. It could be dangerous for you." the blonde suggested.

"Alright, boss." Konohamaru agreed before pulling his friends away and shouting back to Naruto as they ran. "Bye boss!"

Naruto shook his head before turning back to look at the costumed Suna-nin, Kankuro, pushing himself off the ground. The blonde girl carrying a fan who Kankuro called Temeri was berating him.

"I told you that you shouldn't attract attention. But _no_…you have just had to act up again." Temari said with a scowl on her face.

"Shut up, sis." growled Kankuro, totally embarrassed at being manhandled by an allied shinobi.

Deciding to interrupt the bickering duo and to discern if the two were really in the village for the exam, he walked over to them.

"Good thing _nothing_ happened." said Naruto, causing the two Suna-nin to look at him in confusion. He looked at Kankuro. "The boy you _almost_ hit was the Sandaime Hokage's grandson. If you actually hit him then you're dead meat. Besides, if I hadn't interrupted then _those_ guys would have." He jerked his hand over his shoulder towards a building where three ANBUs were looked down at them from the top.

When Kankuro and Temari saw the ANBUs, they paled, the two thanking the stars that nothing happened that would cause an international incident with their butts on the line.

"Now that everything's smoothed over. Can I ask you _why_ you're here though I think you're here for the Chuunin Exams, correct?" asked Naruto with a smile on his face. Sure, he was a bit mad that someone dared to almost hit Konohamaru but his sensei drilled into him to always have a cool head to avoid making mistakes.

Temari nodded. "Yes, were here a week early for the Chuunin Exam." she replied, happy that the blonde boy didn't fight with them. From what he did to Kankuro, the blonde was definitely strong. Very strong judging from how he effortlessly threw his brother like a rag doll.

"Ah. Scouting the opposition, I see. Good plan." said Naruto with a nod before he felt a surge of chakra. He looked up to the source to see it coming from a red-haired Suna shinobi standing on a branch on top of the tree in front of him. He nudged his head towards the redhead. "I take it that the guy over there carrying a gourd is your teammate?"

The two Suna shinobis paled when they heard that. Naruto merely raised an eyebrow at the blatant fear these two were displaying from the mention of the guy with the gourd.

A small tornado of sand appeared behind Temari and Kankuro before dying down to reveal said teen. Naruto noticed that the boy had huge eye bags, an indication that the boy never had any sleep at all judging from how thick it was. The prominent feature that he readily noticed was the Kanji of 'Love' right above the boy's left eye.

"Kankuro, you're a disgrace to Suna." said the red-haired in an emotionless voice.

"G-Gaara…I can explain…" Kankura stuttered out but was interrupted when killing intent surrounded the group. Naruto wasn't fazed since he was practically desensitized to it because of who his sensei was. Compared to Mahora Hari, the red-haired teen's killing intent wasn't even a challenge.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara said simply, killing intent now moving up a notch.

Naruto decided to stop the confrontation before things got ugly. Using a bit of Kyuubi's chakra that he trained to use with Hari and Kyuubi's guidance, he projected a wave of his own killing intent that practically nullified the redhead's. This caused everyone's attention to shift to him.

"Now, I don't _think_ it is a good idea to fight in the middle of the street. ANBU might mistake it for…something else." Naruto said simply though his eyes never left Gaara's. "Introduce yourself, please."

Gaara continued to hold the stare in silence for a few seconds before answering.

"Sabaku no Gaara, and these two are my siblings, Temari and Kankuro." said Gaara. "I apologize for the trouble my siblings caused. It won't happen again."

"No worries, Gaara-san." Naruto said with a smile though he was inwardly cautious due to the chakra he sensed from the teen. It was similar to Kyuubi's but weaker. "Since you introduced yourself to me then I should do the same. My name is Mahora-Uzumaki Naruto, glad to meet you."

"You interest me." said Gaara, eyeing Naruto speculatively.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before giving the boy a leer. "Sorry, Gaara-san, I don't _swing_ that way."

Temari and Kankuro snickered but stopped when Gaara looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "I don't understand."

Kankuro gulped while Temari blushed a beet red. "Umm…we'll explain it to you when we get to our hotel room, Gaara."

Gaara simply nodded before turning back to a clearly-amused Naruto. "See you in the exams." was all he said before walking away with his siblings behind him.

"The exams this year is going to be…pretty interesting if he's going to be there." Naruto mused before looking at the tree where Gaara was standing. "Very interesting indeed."

Naruto walked away not noticing Sasuke's scowl trailing after him.

* * *

**end of Chapter 12. **

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Before you scroll down to the actual story, you might want to check out my responses to some concerns regarding this fic. **

**1. Have you thought about pairings?**

A: To be honest, I don't have any inclinations to add a pairing for this fic. Not that I didn't want to, it's just that I don't have any idea who to pair them with (this includes Naruto, Haku, Hari/Harry, Sano/Zabuza, etc.). If you have any ideas for pairing, whether its M/F or Yaoi, send me a PM and let's see where we go from there. But for now, NO PAIRINGS.

**2. Is this going to be a bashing fic?**

A: For those who loves bashing (Sasuke, Sakura, etc.), I'm sorry to say that it won't be one. To explain the main characters interaction with Sasuke, he's a prick so they are handling it like how a prick should be handled. Not really bashing, but something along the line of 'Bad mouth me and I'll do worst to you, Leave me alone, I leave you be.'.

**3. Will there be a mention of Harry Potter characters?**

A: There will be two or three chapters devoted to Harry Potter characters. I'll leave you be to guess as to what that would entail.

**4. Will some of the Harry Potter characters migrate to Konoha and join Hari/Harry?"**

A: Not sure. The idea has merit but I'm not sure yet.

**That's it for now. On with the story. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 13: Hari's New Toy and Rumors**

The people of Konoha were giving one Mahora Hari a wide berth as he walked down the road towards the shop where the best blacksmith in the village resided. Hari's cackling was enough to make the civilians cower in fear and the shinobis paling in fright, pitying the poor soul that the sadistic Tokubetsu Jounin had his eyes on.

Hari, as usual, was obliviously to the people around him as he journeyed towards his destination, not noticing how people reacted to the cackles and humming that he released along the way. It didn't take long for him to arrive at his destination – a small shop that was mostly comprised of bricks instead of the usual wood that most of the structures in Konoha were made of.

Upon entering the shop, the voice of the blacksmith greeted him.

"You know, it would have been _better_ if you just used your _unique_ form of travel to come here instead of scaring the civilians out of their wits with that cackling of yours."

Hari's head swiveled to where the voice came from, a heavily muscled man with a scar across his cheek wearing a leather apron and pants.

"Setsuna-san, _lovely_ morning to you!" greeted Hari with an excited grin on his face.

Setsuna simply sighed as he walked around the counter towards the door and closed it shut, flipping over the sign to make sure that they wouldn't be disturbed.

"You got my message then. You're sword is finished though how you _can_ carry that thing, much less wield it, is beyond me." said Setsuna as he led Hari to the back of his shop where his forge was located.

"You don't need to worry about that, Setsuna-san." said Hari with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll take care of it. Just make sure that you followed the blueprint down to the last letter."

"Oh I followed it alright." Setsuna said dryly. "If it wasn't for the good money you will be paying me, I would have thrown this project down the drain weeks ago."

"You underestimate yourself, old man. You're the best blacksmith in Konoha, everyone said so." Hari flattered the man who simply gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Hari-san. Flattery _don't_ feed people, money _does_. If it weren't for you being able to meet my price for the project you gave me, I would have turned you around without so much as a peep."

"Fine." Hari said, defeated, before grumbling under his breath. "Grumpy old coot."

"What was that?" Setsuna asked in a deceptively mild tone.

"Uh, nothing. I said that you're…a…umm…_agreeable_ old coot. Yeah that's it." corrected Hari, raising both of his hands in surrender.

"That's what I thought you said." Setsuna said smugly. They reached the workshop and he walked over to the table where a six-foot long box was neatly placed. "Here we are. The finished product."

Hari eagerly walked to the other side of the table and lifted the lid of the box to reveal the masterpiece underneath – his very own zanbatou.

It was massive compared to Sano's Kubikiri Hocho. It was roughly six foot long with the blade encompassing a majority of the weapon – around five and a half feet. The hilt took up the rest. The blade was roughly two inch thick and both edges were sharpened to a fine edge, meeting together at the very tip of the blade.

"Wow!" whispered Hari in awe as he traced the length of the blade with his finger. "Did you use the metal I requested you to?"

"Yep. The most expensive chakra metal ordered from Tetsu no Kuni. Took a week before the shipment came and it took two Genin teams and their respective Jounin senseis to transport it back here. If the bandits got their hands on the metal for this baby then they're set for life. Took most of the month to craft this according to your specifications and I have to use the double-fold technique to make sure that it's very durable. However, the only drawback is the weight. Considering that I used all the metals I ordered, it weighs roughly 500 kilograms, making this the _heaviest_ blade in existence. Wielding this baby is an impossibility." said Setsuna as he eyed Hari with a look of disbelief.

"Ku ku ku ku." laughed Hari as he rubbed his hands together. He didn't notice Setsuna took a step back. "When I'm done with this baby, I would be able to wield it with ease. Ku ku ku ku."

"Fine. Let's settle the bill shall we? I still have some pending orders I need to finish." said Setsuna. To be honest, he didn't have any projects since he finished everything he had on his list before taking up this project and didn't take any more orders ever since. He just wanted this crazy shinobi out of his shop…pronto.

Hari nodded, eyeing the masterpiece on the table.

"How much?"

"Add the price of the chakra metal and labor cost...75,000,000 ryo." Setsuna said with a challenge.

"I thought you said 50,000,000 ryo?" asked Hari with a raised eyebrow. He didn't have any problems with money but he was always a stickler for agreements.

"The price of chakra metal was on the rise when I bought it. I have to make ends meet you know?" Setsuna explained. "If you don't believe me, I still have the receipt given to me by my supplier when I purchase the metal for your sword."

Hari shrugged. He didn't really care about the money. The amount Setsuna gave him was pennies compared to the size of the Mahora Clan account in the bank. He pulled out a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to the man.

"No need, Setsuna-san. There's 100,000,000 ryo sealed inside that scroll." said Hari, inwardly cackling at the bug-eyed look the blacksmith was sporting upon mention of the amount. "Consider the 25,000,000 your talent fee or something though I say that would be payment for your silence and to other future projects as well."

Setsuna opened the scroll and nodded when he saw the legitimate seal for a storage scroll. He knew how they worked since he used some of them himself due to most of his customers being shinobi. Besides, he had no reason not to trust the Mahora clan head after the Hokage recommended him to his shop.

"No problem. Thank you for being _generous_, Hari-san. You won't be disappointed by the quality of the blade." Setsuna assured Hari.

"I won't, considering _your_ reputation, Setsuna-san. Now if _you'll_ excuse me…" Hari waved his hand over the box and banished it to his workshop in one of the spare houses in the Mahora clan compound. The sudden disappearance of the box containing the blade made Setsuna stare in disbelief at the now-empty table; Hari saw the look so he explained. "I just sent it to my workshop. No need to worry about it. Well, I better get going since I need to work on the blade to make sure that it's usable by the end of the day. Ku ku ku ku."

With that, Hari _apparated_ out accompanied by a loud crack and his manic laughter echoing around the room, scaring the poor blacksmith out of his wits.

* * *

Mahora Hari was rubbing his hands in anticipation. All the preparation for the _upgrade_ of his new weapon was complete. All that was needed was to apply the necessary runes on the blade, ensuring that the power source for the enchantments were implanted properly into the blade; and finally, initiating the spell to set the magical additions into the very atoms of the sword to make them a permanent fixture into his new weapon.

His eyes strayed to the dark green, perfectly round stone the size of a golf ball beside the blade, a pure cleanly-cut jade directly from the magical mines in China, that would serve as the power source of his new weapon.

Unlike other magical constructs that requires gems as a power source, Hari discovered in one of the many notes of his ancestors that the most stable of all gems was the jade. It had an inherent property that rejects any enchantment or spells placed on it but it had the capability to store a large amount of magical energy that no other materials could not. This was the reason why Hari had asked Doppler to go back to his old dimension to scour for the purest jade the little elf could find.

Two days later, the little guy returned with a dozen stones bought directly from the magical mines in some remote regions in China. How the little elf knew to get it from there, he didn't know nor did he bother to ask since it wasn't important.

After running a bit of an experiment on the jade, Hari discovered that it could store large amounts of chakra and magic without destabilizing. This made the Mahora clan head crow in happiness since he could use it as a power supply for the various enchantments he planned to place on the blade.

Unlike Sano's _Kubikiri Hocho_ where the enchantments were passive in nature that feeds on ambient energy, active enchantments (enchantments that requires activation from the user) require a readily-available power source for it to properly work - hence the jade.

When he had the power source problem all figured out, the next step was to figure out how to permanently change the metal to the hardest substance in the magical world, _Orihalcon_.

According to the notes from one of the Potters that worked alongside Nicholas Flamel in the field of Alchemy, _Orihalcon_ was indestructible – to both physical and magical force. Any force applied on it amplifies the durability of the metal, giving it a somewhat-sentient capability to adapt and improve itself if there was need.

However, the creation of _Orihalcon_ was complicated.

The first step was to make sure that the metal that would be _alchemicized_ into _Orihalcon_ needs to made from a purely magically conductive element. It was supposed to be _Mithril_ but this metal was scarce back in his home world and only the dwarves were known to mine it deep within their caverns making it unavailable to humans since dwarves have hid themselves after the humans of the magical world decided to enslave them instead of coexisting.

Since he lacked Mithril, Hari had to set his sights on the next best thing…_Chakra Metal. _

After studying and experimenting with the properties of Chakra Metal, he discovered that it had the same conductive properties to that of _Mithril_. His elves were kind enough to show him a _Mithril_-made dagger in one of his vaults and used it as comparison for his experiments which yielded interesting results.

In terms of conductivity, _Chakra Metal_ and _Mithril_ were the same; the only different was the latter's more durable nature compared to the former, though Hari didn't worry about that since he would be synthesizing the metal into the hardest substance known to man if he got it right.

When finished synthesizing _Chakra Metal_ into _Orihalcon_, the next step was to imbue the _passive_ enchantments before adding the _active_ enchantments. It had to be on that order to avoid problems. If he made an error then he would have to comission another blade with Setsuna and that would take another month.

No, he needed to be careful with everything if he wanted to get this done right on the first try.

Once he got the material right, he immediately went to the best blacksmith in Konoha pointed to him by the Hokage. After discussing with Setsuna the Blacksmith on what he wanted done, as well as assuring the man that he had the means to pay for such an expensive project (showing the man a stamped account statement causing Setsuna to drool at all the zeroes on that piece of paper), they both struck a deal for the creation of his zanbatou to be finished within a month.

While his zanbatou was being crafted by the best, Hari was busy planning out the enchantment he wanted to imbue on the blade. He had to schedule his research since he didn't want to abandon his students on their training by themselves. In most cases, he spent the mornings with his students and his afternoons doing research. He only detracted with the schedule for three weeks since he needed to train Kenji to a more…acceptable level, but after that, he went back to his studies with fervor.

Considering how impossible it would be to graft the needed runes on an _Orihalcon_-made blade, he was thankful that all he needed to do was use a unique spell known only to the Potters. It was developed for the sole purpose of grafting runes into hard surfaces. It doesn't get rid of the metal, not that would be possible in the case of _Orihalcon_, but the spell would 'move' the metal of the target area out of the way to make way for the runes. He wasn't removing or destroying the metal, the spell would just conveniently move it out of the way onto other parts of the blade.

Fortunately for him, the requirements for the spell was Occlumency and a butt-load of magical power – both he had in spades.

The first set of enchantments that needed to be embedded on the sword were the passive ones. He planned to incorporate the same ones he did on Kubikiri Hocho, with a few additions; for example, because he was using a power supply, he needed a rune set that absorbs ambient energy in the air and divert it directly to the gem so it won't run out of power, though it was quite possible to use up all the energy supply inside the gem if he were to use some of the more…destructive features he planned to instill into the blade but he needed to test it out later to see how much of a drain it would take and how long it would need to recharged.

The active enchantments were a challenge to graft into the blade but the thought of having them up and running made him giddy. Not wanting to waste any more time, he drew the Elder Wand and prepared for the alchemic synthesis from _Chakra Metal_ to _Orihalcon_.

With a determined glint in his eyes, Hari levitated the table where his zanbatou was placed over to the corner since he needed the space in the middle of the room for the alchemic circle to synthesize the metal. When that was done, he cast a low-powered cutting curse and directed it in a single beam to increase precision. He carved the circle on the floor carefully, ensuring that every line and curve followed his meticilous calculations. If one line was wrong then an explosion would occur that he was sure was strong enough to level the entire Mahora compound and them some.

It took an hour to finish the circle and spent half-an-hour inspective every single rune and lines to make sure that everything was correct. Assured that everything was fine, he levitated the heavy zanbatou from its perch and towards the center of the circle, carefully lowering it down to avoid damaging the alchemical formule on the floor.

Satisfied, he tucked the Elder Wand back into its holster and downed a Pepper-Up Potion he removed from his pouch since he needed to be at full energy in order to channel enough magic into the runes to jumpstart the alchemical process.

When his magical reserves were full, he knelt down on the floor beside the circle and placed both of his palms on the circle where he would need to channel his energy. Taking a deep breath, he linked up with his core and channeled as much energy as he could into the array.

The circle and runes glowed white before arcs of energy flew from the array and into the swords, making it glow.

The synthesis started.

Now all he needed to do was wait.

* * *

It was three hours later that the synthesis of _Chakra Metal_ to _Orihalcon_ was finished and Hari couldn't help but marvel at the massive change in the former to become the latter.

Like what legend said, _Orihalcon_ was black and beautiful. His new _Orihalcon_-made zanbatou gleamed under the light of the lighting charms he placed around the room, giving it an ethereal yet deadly glow.

Hari frowned, however, that the sharpened edge were a lighter shade of black, almost gray, comapred to the rest of the blade. Heck, even the handle and hilt was pure black. Seeing that it made his new weapon a bit cooler than being all black, he shrugged it off as another mystery of alchemy. He wasn't a Master Alchemist like Nicholas Flamel so he need not worry about it.

The next step was to make sure that the synthetis perfect. He walked back a few feet while flicking out the Elder Wand to his hand. He took aim and fired the strongest spell he knew in his arsenal.

"_**Avada Kedavra!" **_

A thick beam of green light flew out from the Elder Wand's tip and collided with the newly-synthesized Orihalcon. Instead of shattering, the metal absorbed the spell, making it glow green before dying down. Satisfied with the result, Hari fired another Killing Curse at the blade but instead of being absorbed like its predecessor, the beam merely splashed harmlessly on the metal without any noticeable effects.

Grinning, Hari continued the test using other offensive hexes and curses he knew against the blade. Light and Dark spells flew from the Elder Wand, all overpowered, striking the unyielding _Orihalcon_-made blade. Some were absorbed while others merely dissipated. Nothing fazed it. Not even a scratch.

Hari stowed the wand back into its holsters before releasing a manic cackle that echoed all over the compound.

Synthesis complete!

* * *

After his meeting with the Suna Team, Naruto didn't bother to continue his treck to the Hokage Mountain; but instead, chose to return to the Mahora compound and report everything to his teammates.

He appeared in their personal training ground behind the Mahora compound in a standard _Leaf_ _Shunshin._ Naruto saw Haku and Kenji sparring – Haku using a blade of ice while Kenji used his two _tantos_, both dancing around each other and trying to land a hit through each of their defenses. Despite the lack of finesse in Haku's moves since he wasn't a kenjutsu practitioner, the ice-wielding teen held his ground against his more experienced teammate with a grace that spoke of Sano's skill in teaching the boy during their tenure as missing-nins.

Naruto waited for a bit to observe the intricate dance of blades since he wasn't into swords, preferring to fight with ninjutsu and taijutsu, before catching the attention of his two teammates.

"Guys, I got some news." shouted Naruto, catching the duo's attention.

Upon hearing his shout, both immediately jumped back from their stalemate. Haku dispelled his ice blade while Kenji replaced his _tantos_ into their respective sheathes strapped on his back with practiced grace.

"What's up, bro?" asked Kenji as he walked towards Naruto with Haku following him from behind. Naruto smiled at the term of endearment from his new teammate. The month he spent training and sparring with Kenji made them almost like siblings, and he knew that Haku felt the same. He briefly wondered if he could suggest to Hari to adopt the teen but pushed that to the back of his mind since that wasn't what he wanted to talk about at the moment.

"I met a…_problematic_ team from Suna. They're here for the Chuunin Exams so they will eventually become our competitors." Naruto reported, catching the two's attention. All of them were excited about the upcoming exams and all three of them were training like hell to prepare themselves for whatever the examiners could come up with. Their sensei-slash-clan-head didn't tell them what the exams were but he advised them to up their training to be prepared for any situations.

"Problematic?" asked Haku curiously. "How so?"

"Team Suna is composed of three siblings, Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara. I'm not worried about the first two but I have a bad feeling with the last one." Naruto informed them, not bothering to bring up _how_ he met the team. This earned him a raised eyebrow from Kenji.

"I doubt that the two are useless enough for you to not worry about them, bro, considering that they _are_ from Suna. I heard from my former sensei that Suna's shinobi are quite powerful. Most of them specialize in wind techniques while a few of them were known to use poisons and powerful puppets."

"I agree with Kenji." Haku quipped, adding his two cents. "Sano and I had a brief run with some of their Hunter-nins and I can safely say that they were strong. If their sensei recommended them for the upcoming exam then you can be sure that they are the ace of their village."

"Hmmmm." said Naruto as he called up the images of Team Suna from his brief meeting with them. "From the way you described Suna shinobi, I would say that this team they sent is pretty strong judging from their looks. However, it's Gaara that worries me. He is no ordinary Genin."

"Why do you say that?" asked Kenji, skeptically. His surrogate brother wasn't one for judging others by their looks alone but if he saw something about them then it was something they should heed.

"Kankuro was carrying a bandaged…_pack_ behind him. I don't know what's hidden behind all that wrapping but all that was revealed was some black tufts that looked like hair. If what you said is true then it is quite possible that he is a puppet user." Hari mused before looking at Haku. "Temari carries a huge fan with her so it is quite possible that she uses wind techniques. Is that assumption correct, Haku?"

"You're correct." Haku said with a nod. "Though using a fan is frowned upon by the male shinobi population, quite a few Suna kunoichi were known to use War Fans with an application of chakra to bring out wide-area wind attacks. The most common of that is the _Wind Scythe_ or _Wind Sickle_, both are range attacks utilizing wind chakra to produce sharp wind blades to slice their opponents up. I even saw one of their kunoichis use a fan to produce something similar to your _Fuuton: Great Breakthrough_. All of these techniques are done without seals so they can easily bring them out in a hurry."

"Which one is stronger?" asked Naruto curiously. He didn't know that fans could be used for such things and he was excited to see which was stronger, his wind technique or theirs. He was a wind user after all.

Haku shook his head before giving Naruto an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, brother mine. I don't know which is stronger though I'm sure your version is stronger considering how potent your chakra is. Also, since you mastered the first Wind Element exercise, I would guess that your control is good enough to rival theirs." said Haku before a thought occurred to him. "You might want to finish your version of the _Mahora Elemental Dance_ before the exam. You only have two weeks left for it."

"He's right, bro." Kenji agreed with Haku's assessment. He saw the power of the Mahora Elemental Dance, a clan-based Absolute Defense, that could rival any defensive jutsus in the elemental nation. If Naruto mastered his then their team would not have to worry about defensive measures against powerful attacks. Haku's alone was forminable. Add Naruto's version into the mix, both of them were nigh invincible. "How is it coming along anyway?"

"I'm getting there. I can produce the necessary wind chakra and combine it with the little _majoujutsu_ I have in my system. However, I'm still having problem with the shape manipulation aspect of it. It's bit slow since I don't have Haku's fine control." Naruto admitted. He really wanted to perfect his wind-based absolute defense but he was having trouble shaping the blades that he planned to incorporate into the mix.

"I think I can help you with that." said Haku with a smile. "My Hyouton bloodline allows me complete control of both Wind and Water chakra to produce ice. I can show you how I shape my wind to produce ice to help you out."

"Thanks, Haku. That would be greatly appreciated." Naruto said with a smile before turning to Kenji. "Have you asked Hari-sensei yet?"

Kenji shook his head nervously.

"No I haven't." Kenji admitted. "I'm kind of afraid."

"Afraid of what?" asked Haku curiously. It was on their fourth week of training that he and Naruto opened up the subject of adoption to Kenji since the boy was an orphan. Both boys liked Kenji well enough and already considered him a surrogate brother. If he was adopted then all of them could be brothers for real.

"Um…"

"Spill it." urged Naruto.

"I'm afraid of being rejected." Kenji finally blurted out.

"You're afraid of Hari-sensei rejecting you?" Naruto asked incredulously. He, of all people, knew that their sensei was one of the kindest people in Konoha considering how he helped him despite what he carried in his gut.

"Well, not really." Kenji said hesistantly. He didn't want to explain but when he saw the questioning looks on Naruto and Haku's face, he decided to tell them. "Both of you know I'm an orphan. One reason I became a shinobi is because I want to be accepted. I don't know how it happened but I developed a fear of rejection as I grew up. That is why I do my best to pass Hari-sensei's training program now matter how hard it was. I'm just afraid that he would say no to my request to be adopted into the clan."

Naruto nodded before clapping Kenji on the back.

"Don't worry Kenji. Haku and I will be there to back you up. All you need to do is ask him. If I know sensei, he won't say no to your request. Besides, if he adopted Sano into the clan, what's stopping him from doing the same to you."

"Thanks guys." said Kenji with a smile on his face making Naruto nod.

"Anyway, I propose that we scout the competition before the start of the exam. This way, we can be prepared to who our opponents would be. I'm sure we can cope without knowing but it's the shinobi way to gather information before a fight. Don't you agree?"

"Agreed." Kenji said with a nod, though Haku had a frown on his face.

"You didn't explain why you're worried about Gaara of Team Suna." asked the ice-wielding Mahora.

"Well, both of you know that I can somewhat sense other people's aura like Hari-sensei, right?" Both nodded, knowing that the blonde had acquired the ability to sense auras and emotions from other people after the adoption. "Well, I sense something…_different_ in Gaara. It's like something malicious and dangerous. His whole aura screamed those facts out."

"Any idea what his specialty might be?" asked Kenji with a frown. This Gaara sounds like a dangerous opponent so it was a good idea to know what the boy was capable of so they could counter it when the time came.

"Don't know though he did use sand techniques judging from the sand-version of his _Shunshin_. Aside from the large gourd he carries on his back, I got nothing else on him." Naruto admitted with a shrug.

"We migth want to ask sensei about that. He had a vacation in Suna a few years back so he might know something." suggested Haku when he remembered Hari's stories during his…vacation before joining the Konoha ranks.

"Great. We can plan for that later. Now, are you two up to helping me with my technique? I want to master it before the exams." asked Naruto with a determined glint in his eyes.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, was frowning as he read the missive from his spymaster, Jiraiya of the Toads. The sealed scroll arrived this morning via toad summon, its content stating that there was a talk of an invasion against Konoha sometime during the Chuunin Exams. The white-haired spymaster didn't give much details but it had something to do with the new shinobi village, Otogakure, and Suna.

His frowned deepened when he remembered the roster of participants he read before reading the missive. Suna and Oto sent only one team each, a glaring anomaly for someone who planned to launch an invasion. He didn't know anything about it since it was very secretive, even it's location was hidden. Konoha and Suna were allies so the big question was why they wanted to participate in such an invasion.

His thoughts on the two teams, it was quite possible that they were scouts to see discover any weak points Konoha might have. If it was then it was time to do something drastic.

Sarutobi sighed before his eyes strayed to the blue folder sitting innocently in one corner of his desk. If Konoha was about to be invaded then it was time to enact the safety measures he and the Mahora clan head planned out for the defense of their beloved village.

The invaders wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

**Author's note:**

**I was informed that the plural of shinobi and kunoichi is still shinobi and kunoichi. Is this correct?**

**Regarding the update speed, I will cut it down to twice a week or once a week. My professional life is demanding a lot of time from me so who am I to argue. I'll try to work on this story during my free time to get it done as fast as possible without compromising its quality.**

**I'm going to put up a poll soon so please look forward to it.**

**PS: ANYONE OF MY READERS GOOD AT MAKING COVER ART? PLEASE MAKE ONE FOR THIS FIC! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!  
**

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**End of chapter 13.**

**Please leave a comment or a review. Thanks.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I have this project to finish that demanded all of my time. I have to work a few hours before I go to bed (which is only an hour or two). Thanks for those who gave me some ideas for future chapters. You will know who you are when you read them.**

**Enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment or a review. Any views are welcome and appreciated…yes, flames too.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Blue Folder**

Hari was in his personal study in the Mahora compound when the mirror on his table gave out a ringing sound. It was his personal line to the Hokage, gifting the old leader a direct communication with him to be used _only_ in an emergency, not that they hadn't used it to exchange ideas now and then. For it to ring now meant something was up or the aged leader was just bored from doing all the nasty paperwork in his office. He accepted the call with a single tap of his finger causing Hokage's face to appear.

"What's up, Hokage-sama?" Hari asked with a smile. "Is this a social call or something serious is in the works?"

"A toad messenger just arrive this morning bringing a letter from Jiraiya. There is an invasion planned for Konoha during the Chuunin Exams." The aged leader informed him without sugar coating it.

"What?" Hari exclaimed in surprise. "_Who_ in their right mind would be stupid enough to invade during an international event?"

"Suna and Oto." The Hokage answered with a grim look on his face. This answer surprised Hari.

"Oto I understand. But Suna? Don't we have an alliance with them?" Hari asked, confused. Thanks to his studies a few years back, he knew all about Konoha's alliances and treaties with other shinobi villages with Suna being one of them.

"We do but it seems that they are planning to renege on the alliance. It is mostly a formality anyway than a declaration of mutual interest." Sarutobi informed him. "And before you ask, Jiraiya has never been wrong before so it is not a good idea to treat this information as a hoax."

Hari nodded since the alliance in Suna merely said that they won't attack if Konoha didn't. It was set in place after the Third Great Shinobi War when Suna lost badly for siding with the enemy. Also, Jiraiya might be a convoluted pervert, but he was, foremost, a spymaster who prided himself of the accuracy of the information he gathered from all over the Elemental Nations.

"Fine. If Suna wants to try us out then I don't have a problem with that. Any news why Oto wanted to invade us all of a sudden? Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't Oto a minor shinobi village, not even warranting a mention from the Great Five?" asked Hari. The Great Five where the most powerful shinobi villages in the Elemental Nation, namely Konohagakure no Sato, Iwagakure no Sato, Kumogakure no Sato, Sunagakure no Sato, and Kirigakure no Sato. The other villages were minor, not being able to compare to the number of shinobis employed by the Great Five.

"Oto isn't recognize as a shinobi village by the Great Five but if they plan to launch an invasion against one then it means that they are well prepared." The Hokage informed him. "Such is the case, I don't want to leave everything to chance. I want to activate the orders on the _Blue Folder_."

Now this surprised Hari though the devious grin on his face was a welcome one.

"The _Blue Folder_ you say? How _far_ are you planning to take it?" asked Hari with a smirk. The _Blue Folder_ contained directives just in case Konoha was in a pinch – highlighting plans for both offense and defense to protect the village from outside forces. Inside where different levels for the defense of the village. The higher the level, the more…destructive the countermeasures were. In total there were five levels- level one would make Voldemort cringe while level 5 involves a total slaughter…for the invading force of course.

"Level 3." The Hokage simply, mimicking Hari's smirk.

"Level 3 huh? Good thing I have everything prepared for it. If you said Level 4 or 5 then I need a week to get everything straightened out." said Hari as his smirk turned evil. "When are you planning to inform the shinobi council? Considering that this is a wartime meeting, the civilians won't be in on it. I won't put it past them to become a spy for the invading force."

"I know. That is why I want to ask if _you_ would be so kind as to open up your conference room for this meeting. You're protections are top notch and not a single spy could ever hope to infiltrate it. If Danzo's people can't get in, no one else can."

This made Hari snicker. Thanks to his wards, he repelled five major attempts at spying a year, three for this year alone though most of it were from other shinobi villages, Genins who were curious about the new clan of Konohagakure no Sato. The spies were either repelled to forget their actions or immediately teleported to a prision sell deep inside the ANBU T and I division. In fact, Ibiki, the lead torturer of the division, sent him a gift basket for the _playmates_ he sent his way.

"Sure, old man." Hari agreed. "When's the meeting?"

"Tomorrow. I'll covertly inform the shinobi council of the meeting later today. Would it be safe to say that the _portkey ring_ you created for me will allow me to bring anyone to your home?" asked Sarutobi. Hari created a portkey ring for the him sometime after he became a Tokubetsu Jounin, a multi-use portkey to bring the Hokage to specified locations around Konoha, namely the Konoha Hospital, Hokage Monument, the Hokage's Office, ANBU Building, the the Mahora Clan compound which requires a password to penetrate the wards. The others just needed certain keywords to activate.

"Yup. Just tell me in advance on who's coming so I can key then into the wards to be on the safe side. Your ring will bring you here no problem but any passenger you have might encounter some of my more…destructive countermeasures." Hari added the last part cryptically.

"Do I even want to know?" Sarutobi asked curiously. He was already informed of the protection that surrounds the Mahora clan compound but he didn't know some of the nastier effects it would have on those stupid enough to trigger the more serious defenses.

"Not if you want to sleep at night." Hari said simply with a devious smirk on his face.

"Fine. Keep that information to yourself. I'll send a message through Fawkes." The Hokage informed him. "Speaking of which, where is the old bird anyway? He usually hangs out in my office to keep me company but I haven't him for a month now."

"I wouldn't say _that_ with him around if you don't want to be pecked to death, old man. Despite being a phoenix and an immortal, that bird can be quite vain." Hari said with a smile on his face as he thought of his second familiar. "To answer your question, Fawkes is currently out of Konoha right now. Last I heard, he went back to my world to check on Britain. I've been out of touch for the past 3 years and the letters stopped coming. I was worried."

"You mean you're still receiving letters from your old home?" Sarutobi asked, surprised since Hari didn't like his old dimension. Hari saw the expression on the Hokage's face so he decided to explain.

"I didn't like it there, old man, but I _do_ have friends there and I want to know how they are doing." Hari informed him. "If not, I just want to make sure that they're alright, that's all."

"Ah." The Hokage said with a nod. Despite how sadistic Hari became, a far cry to what he was when he first set foot in the Elemental Nations, he was still a kind-hearted person that loved to help if he could. "Anyway, all Jounin senseis will have a meeting next week concerning the Chuunin Exams. If you want your team to join then you need to attend and recommend your team in front of everyone."

Hari nodded eagerly. He really wanted his team to join the exams and he knew that they would easily pass thanks to the trianing he put them through.

"I'll be there. My team is ready to kick some serious butt in the exams." Hari said proudly.

"I know. It's mostly formality anyway so please do be there." The Hokage urged since Hari has always loathed Jounin meetings.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hari said with a sarcastic bow.

"Cheeky brat." Sarutobi grumbled.

"I know and you love me for it." Hari said smugly much to the Hokage's annoyance.

* * *

The meeting of the shinobi council went as planned. The conference room where it was held was located in one of the large houses in the Mahora compound converted by Hari's ever-helpful elves into a large ballroom with a long table that could easily sit fifty with plenty of space to move around. If more space was needed, an expansion charm could be easily activated in a moment's notice.

It was three hours before the meeting that Hari received a list of people who would be attending the meeting though the Mahora clan head had to frown when he saw Danzo's name. Ever since he met the one-eyed cripple, Hari had goosebumps about the man, making him thread carefully to avoid being manipulated.

He didn't know why but he saw Danzo as a more…destructive version of the late Albus Dumbledore, may he enjoy his Next Great Adventure. He couldn't fault the Headmaster's manipulations, considering the threat level of Voldemort, but it was annoying to be led around the nose.

Despite his dislike of the man, Hari _temporarily_ keyed him into the wards until the duration of the meeting along with instruction to one of his elves to keep an eye out on the man just in case. Hari also warded the conference room to make sure that no one gets in or out since shinobi were generally curious by nature.

Before starting the meeting, Hari played host and provided and assortment of sweets and drinks that everyone partook. Akimichi Chouza even commented that the cakes were superb much to Hari's amusement. He would be relaying that to the elves later though he knew for a fact that the little helpers already knew about the compliment even before he could tell them. They loved to gossip above everything else.

"Now that we're all fed and watered, it is time to start the meeting." The Hokage begun, causing everyone's attention to be directed at him. "First of all, I would like to thank Hari for providing us with a venue. I think most of you are thinking as to why we didn't have this meeting in the council chamber?"

Everyone nodded though it was Nara Shikaku who voiced it out. For once, the man wasn't bored or lazy. He didn't know it but Hari had one of his elves give the man a mild dose of _Pepper-Up Potion_ to keep him awake without him knowing about it.

"I'll speak for everyone in attendance that you're correct, Hokage-sama" Said Shikaku dryly. He was annoyed because no matter how much he wanted to sleep this meeting off, his energy levels were to the roof, leaving him quite energized and unable to be…lazy. He had this sneaky suspicion that Hari had something to do with it if the smug grin was anything to go by. "Why did you change the location anyway?"

The Hokage's face grew somber which everyone picked up immediately. Now they knew that something serious was up.

"The reason why I called you here is to discuss a topic of importance that affects Konoha directly. Since I don't want anyone to overhear today's topic, I requested for Hari to open up a part of his compound for our use. It is safe to say that no other place in Konoha is more secure than the Mahora compound."

The shinobis in the room turned to Hari with inquiring looks on their faces though Danzo had an annoyed frown on his face causing Hari to smirk.

"I value my privacy so I utilized my bloodline to place a…protection of sorts around the boundaries of my compound. Anyone with ill-intent towards the household or plan to enter uninvited are…kicked out, so to speak. I will not explain any more than that." explained Hari to which everyone nodded in acceptance. He didn't want to tell his fellow clan heads and shinobi the nature of his wards. The Hokage knew, of course, but no one else. It was better that way.

"Thank you for that explanation, Hari." said the Hokage to the Mahora clan head who nodded. "Now, the reason why I called this meeting is to discuss the upcoming invasion that threatens Konoha."

The uproar was deafening. There were a few things that could get a shinobi riled up and an invasion was on top of that list. Questions after questions were being asked and Hari had to resort to a wide area silencing spell just to shut everyone up.

"If all of you would just settle down, Hokage-sama will tell us everything he knew. If you promise me that you all will keep quiet until he's done, I'll remove the binding I placed on your voice box. Agreed?" Hari said in annoyance. What else could they do? They just nodded in agreement. Hari removed the spell which made everyone sigh in relief. Take away a shinobi's voice then they're prized techniques were crippled since most of them were voice activated. Not a very pleasant experience.

"Thank you, Hari." Sarutobi said with a smile.

"No problem, Hokage-sama." Hari returned.

Sarutobi nodded and addressed everyone in the room.

"Jiraiya sent word to me two days ago on some rumors that he heard from one of his spies. After learning of this rumor, he immediately scoured every nook and cranny of his spy network to discover that this rumor was, in fact, the truth. Konoha will be invaded during the Chuunin Exams. There is no exact time as to when that would be but all we needed to know that we have a time frame to work with."

"Do we have any idea as to who is planning to invade us?" asked Danzo, eyes very alert. Hari couldn't fault that. Danzo may be a manipulative bastard, but he was, and still is, a shinobi of Konoha who loved the village with everything he had though his actions were…questionable to say the least.

"Suna and Oto." Sarutobi replied.

"Suna?" Tsume asked in surprise. "We have an alliance in place after the last Great Shinobi War. They wouldn't _dare_ invade us with the limited manpower they have in their disposal."

"I think _that_ is the reason why they allied themselves with Oto…to compensate for the lack of a fighting force for the invasion." said Hiashi thoughtfully. "Do we have any ideas on who the leader of Oto is, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi shook his head in negative.

"According to Jiraiya, Otogakure is secretive. The location of their base and the identity of their leader are unknown. We don't know what forces they could muster nor do we know the techniques they employ though that could be easily remedied if we keep an eye out on the team they sent for the upcoming exam. This is the reason why I called this meeting to order. We are dealing with an unknown invasion force so we need to be prepared. Suna we can handle with ease but combined with the forces of Oto, everything is up to chance."

Murmurs echoed around the room as each digested the information they heard from the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, would it be safe to say that you have a plan in place to counter this?" asked Shikaku, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. "What? Don't you think it's weird for the Hokage to set a meeting _somewhere_ where no one can eavesdrop on us, not to mention that supicious _blue folder_ in front of him? If you ask me, the old coot is up to something."

Hari had to laugh at how the lazy clan head described the aged leader. He was definitely spot on with that description of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Despite regressing the old man's age, he was still older than everyone else in the room, well, except for Danzo, Koharu, and Homura since they were of his previous age.

"Yes, Shikaku. This 'old coot' is definitely up to something." Sarutobi said in annoyance that made everyone, except for Danzo, to snicker in amusement. "And yes, this blue folder has something to do with it."

"What does this…mysterious folder have to do with this meeting?" asked Koharu, eyeing the folder suspiciously.

"Two years ago, Hari and I discussed the possibility of Konoha being under attack for various reasons. Since Hari love Konoha with everything he has considering that this has been his home ever since he arrived, he made sure to enact a few…defenses just in case his home is threatened. This is the blue folder – directives for the defense of Konoha to be only activated in dire situations. I think you all agree with me that an invasion is as dire as any situation that would come up?" Sarutobi asked rethorically.

Everyone nodded in agreement at that. They might have different views on things but defending their home was something they all had in common. They loved Konoha and they would all invade hell just to keep it safe.

"I now give the floor to Hari since he is the creator of the 'Defense Plan' contained inside this folder." said Sarutobi as he tapped the blue folder in front of him. "Hari, would you please?"

Hari nodded before standing up and walking towards the other end of the table, opposite of the Hokage. Everyone's attention were on him.

"The 'Blue Folder' contains the various directives for the defense of Konoha incase of an attack. I love Konoha with all of my heart, everyone accepted me when I needed a new home and I have devoted a lot of my time to protect its interest, may it be people or relations. This is why I created the 'Defense Plan' with the blessing of the Hokage and prepared them just in case it is needed."

"What does this 'Defense Plan' include, Hari-san?" ask Homura curiously while inwardly giddy at the thought of having a slew of defensive measures to protect the village.

"The blue folder, or the Defense Plan of Konoha as I like to call it, contains five levels. Each varying in terms of complexity and seriousness of the threat. Most of the measures there are already integrated into the village and would only require activation by the Hokage. There are five levels in total and I will leave it to the Hokage to answer your questions if you want to know about them. For now, I will discuss to you Level 3 of the Defense Plan which the Hokage wanted me to activate. This includes both passive and active defenses."

Hari paused for a bit to gather his thoughts, noticing that everyone's attention was focused on him. He mentally grinned at the sight. Their curiosities were piqued if nothing else.

"First, I will inform everyone of the passive defenses I integrated into the village with the permission of the Hokage." Hari began. "For starters, the walls surrounding Konoha are now ten times as durable. Meaning, an S-rank jutsu would just give it a scratch and any large summons could be pounding on it for weeks without noticeable effect."

"Whoah. How in the world did you do that?" asked Inoichi in surprise, which everyone mimicked. "I didn't see any construction projects happening around the walls."

"Of course you didn't." Hari said, mildly offended. "I was _very_ discreet about it."

Sarutobi sighed. Trust Hari to play with everyone's curiosity.

"Just get on with it, Hari." Sarutobi said with a sigh. Hari might be a powerul and experienced Jounin, but he was still a prankster at heart and loved to play with the crowd.

"Fine. Ruin my fun, why don't you." Hari grumbled causing some of the shinobi in the room to snicker. "Anyway, you didn't _see_ any constructions around the wall because there wasn't one. Using some…help I have at my disposal, I incorporated runes on the walls itself, making them durable and powered by the ambient energy of nature."

"Runes?" asked Hiashi in confusion. "What in Kami's name were runes?"

"In the world where I came from, we call it runes. But your version of it here in this world terms it as Fuuinjutsu." Hari promptly replied making everyone nod in understanding. "Anyway, the walls are now reinforced, making them as durable as tempered steel and then some. Even the gates of Konoha, once closed, will activat a locking mechanism that would shut it tight against outside forces. Nothing will ever penetrate it unless opened with the express permission of the Hokage."

"Is this the only passive defense you set up?" Shikaku asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Not at all. Key buildings in Konoha are also reinforced. The Hospital, the Academy, ANBU building, Hokage Tower, and the likes." Hari answered immediately.

"Ah." the Nara clan head nodded. "Continue please."

"Thank you, Shikaku. Don't mind if I do." Hari said, amused. "Level 3 of the Konoha Defense Plan is termed 'Prankster's Paradise' because of the various… pranks I placed all over Konoha to be activated if need be."

"Pranks? How in the world can pranks protect Konoha?" exclaimed Danzo, indignant at the thought of pranks being used to defend his beloved village. If this was Sarutobi's idea of a joke then he has something coming for wasting his time.

"Pranks of _this_ world are harmless, Danzo-san. But pranks in _my_ world…" Hari trailed off as he pulled out a black sphere from his pocket. Grinning, he slammed it on the ground causing it to break. Darkness rolled out and engulfed the room in black, turning visibility to zero.

Everyone was tense when their sight was practically nullified but they calmed down when they heard Hari's voice from…somewhere.

"This is what I call _Peruvian Darkness Powder_ that a duo of pranksters of my acquaintance developed for me. As you can see, it can nullify the sight of anyone under it. Doujutsus are useless and nothing can penetrate the darkness. From what I understand, this is a non-jutsu equivalent of the ultimate genjutsu the Nidaime Hokage used, the _Bringer of_ _Infinte Darkness Technique_. No chakra will cancel out the effects of the powder, nothing to do but wait it out…which would take 15 minutes, enough time for our forces to capture or kill them. However, our shinobi will be outfitted with a pair of contacts that I am currently wearing, allowing me to see through the darkness with ease." said Hari before using the countercharm Fred and George taught him to reverse the blinding effect of the powerder. He saw the awed looks in everyone's face. Even Danzo. "As you can see, this is a well-known prank in my world but if you use it on an enemy shinobi…" he left that hanging for someone to pick up. It was Aburame Shibi who did.

"Then our forces, who will be wearing the contacts you will provide, can easily take them down without opposition." Shibi drawled in his usual monotone. "An ingenious…prank, Hari-san."

"Thank you, Shibi-san. Glad you approved." Hari said smugly, preening under the positive attention he was garnering. He wasn't a ham-dog, so to speak, but attentions like these were hard to come by.

"Are these the only…pranks you have?" Tsume asked eagerly, wanting to see more of what his fellow clan head and shinobi had to offer.

"Nope, I have tons of them. I will give you all a list later to peruse and get familiar with. It is up to you guys to tell everyone of your clan about them. Let me proceed with the active defenses." Hari turned to the Hokage who was watching everyone with an amused expression on his face. "Who is the tactical advisor of Konoha, Hokage-sama?"

"That would be Shikaku." said Sarutobi, noting the surprised look on Hari's face. "He might be a lazy bastard but he has one of the best minds when it comes to strategies."

"I'm not lazy." Shikaku mock-whined which made everyone snicker. Whatever he had in his system was making him hyper. Damn that Hari.

"Yes you are and you know it." Chouza pointed out to his best friend. A lazy Nara was a natural Nara, after all. Everyone in the Elemental Nations knows that.

"Fine, but it's not _polite_ to just come out and say it." Shikaku grumbled good naturedly.

"Children…" Inoichi started with a sigh. If he didn't stop these two now then they wouldn't get anything done.

"Yes _mother_." Chouza and Shikaku answered in unision causing quite a few to laugh.

"Enough of the games already, you're stealing my thunder here, Shikaku." said Hari, annoyed.

"I apologize, Hari-san." the Nara apologized though it was clear on the man's face that he didn't mean it.

"Not…accepted." said Hari with a mock-glare before smiling. He snapped his fingers, removing the invisibility spell he placed on the map of Konoha plastered on the wall behind him. "As you can see, this is an interactive map of Konoha."

"What are those moving dots all over the map, Hari-san?" asked Tsume, eyeing the map curiously.

Hari grinned and tapped the portion of the map where his clan compound was located. The portion where he tapped magnified to show where the conference room was. Everyone was shocked to see green dots with their names on it. Hari saw the recognition on their faces which prompted him to explain.

"I think everyone noticed the special feature of this map. This is what I call the Marauder's Map. It is powered by _mahoujutsu_, my bloodline, that can keep track of everyone…and I do mean everyone…inside Konoha. Green dots are Konoha shinobis, white are civilian and red are shinobis from other countries. The names are underneath their respective dots. This is the _ultimate_ spying and monitoring tool." Hari said proudly. It took him quite a while to replicate the enchantments on the original Marauder's map and integrate it into the gigantic map of Konoha. Not to mention the amount of runes he had to place all over the village to make sure that every single location was displayed on the thing.

"Amazing." Danzo breathed out. Everyone simply nodded in agreement, even the Hokage since this was the first time he saw the map first hand. Hari described it to him but seeing it in reality was something else.

"Since Shikaku is the tactical advisor of the shinobi forces, he will be manning the map during the invasion. All the shinobi forces will be wearing a pair of communication earrings…" Hari held out a ruby-studded earring for everyone to see. "Which will allow Shikaku to communicate with them directly and give out orders. For him to do that, he needs to wear this necklace…" Hari reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a simply gold necklace. "With these two, you can easily contact every single shinobi in Konoha and deploy them where there is need. I included the various prank items I placed around Konoha on the map and labeled them accordingly. All you need to do is coordinate and execute. Easy enough."

"Why does it have to be me?" asked Shikaku since he could already feel the work this was going to take.

"It's either that or you position yourself in the front lines." the Hokage suggested with an unholy glint in his eyes.

"Now that you mention it, I think manning the map is the perfect job for me." Shikaku ammeded immediately before promptly catching the necklace which Hari threw at him.

"Wear it. I'll give the earrings to Hokage-sama later for distribution. I'll send you a scroll on how to use the map's features and how to call on specific earrings to relay your commands." Hari offered.

"Thanks." the Nara grumbled though his mind was already whirling with various scenarios that he could use in combination of the map, necklace, and earring. The logistics would be easier and strategies on the fly would be easily carried out. "Where is the map going to be placed? I doubt you're going to be placing it here in your compound."

Hari shook his head.

"Nope. I plan to place it in an underground bunker underneath the Hokage Tower. It is a defensible position and you won't have to worry about enemy shinobis taking you out and crippling our defenses." he explained causing the Nara clan head to nod at the idea.

"Any idea as to when the invasion would start?" asked Hiashi as he eyed the map who was now showing the entirety of Konoha. His eyes zoomed on Training Ground 8 where his daughter was along with the rest of her teammates.

"If I was the invading force then I would be starting the invasion on the final part of the exam." the Hokage answered. Everyone looked at him in question, except for Shikaku who simply nodded. "The final part of the exam will be attended by every high-ranking officials all around the Elemental Nations, not to mention potential clients who wanted to keep an eye on the capabilties of the shinobis of various village for future missions. If they wanted to get the maximum effect from the invasion then it would be during that time they would strike."

"If that is the case then we would be hard-pressed to protect two fronts at the same time." Shikaku mused. "Of course, the Konoha Stadium would have to be defended considering that high-ranking officials would be there and the walls as well since the invading force would be trying to get in. However, what worries me is how we can keep track of the potential enemy shinobis inside our walls during the exams. Any ideas, Hari-san?"

"I do. My elves are already checking out every single foreign shinobi in Konoha and they will submit a report to me which I will relay to the Hokage for review."

"Elves?" Shikaku asked. Hari grinned.

"Mahora elves to me." shouted Hari causing a loud pop to echo around the room prompting the attendance of two dozen house elves in their own personal uniforms. The shinobis were looking at the little buggers with interest. "These are house elves. Helpful little buggers and have their own special abilities that they could use to spy without being detected. I already dispatched the lot of them to keep track of foreign shinobis around Konoha to sniff out the invading forces. Also, they will help in evacuating the civilians if there is need, as well as sending our forces to the hospital for treatment while in the battlefield. They can teleport anywhere instantly, making them a valuable addition to our shinobi force."

"What do this…elves do, Hari-san?" asked Danzo in curiosity, eyeing the house elves with interest.

"To be honest, their main responsibility is to take care of the house." Hari informed them causing everyone to look at him and the elves incredulously. Hari dismissed the elves, causing another loud pop to echo around the room. "From the name itself, they are HOUSE elves. Meaning, they help around the house – they cook, clean, arrange, serve… you name them, they can do it. I'm just using their capabilities to spy since they don't have any abilities to fight." They didn't need to know that each elves packed quite a wallop if there was need. Only the Hokage knew what they were capable of and that was enough for now.

"I see. So I take it that this…teleportation is one of their unique methods of travel that we will be using in the battlefield?" asked Danzo with a smile on his face.

"Yes." Hari replied, taking note of the smile on the warhawk's face. Danzo nodded and kept quiet after that. "That concludes my explanation of the Defense Plan. If something new comes up then Hokage-sama will be calling on a meeting again. Shikaku-san, I will be placing the map on the bunker tonight. I suggest that you set a schedule to make sure that someone will always be there to keep an eye on things. I wouldn't put it past the invading force to hit us with our guards down."

"Thanks. I'll make the necessary preparations." Shikaku promised, already listing down some trustworthy people who would be keeping an eye out on the map 24/7.

The meeting degenerated to sharing of ideas to be used during the invasion. Hari simply noted their ideas while the Hokage guided everyone accordingly.

One thing was for sure, the invasion force wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

**End of chapter 14. **

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Here we go, out earlier than expected. I managed to squeeze this out since it's a holiday here but things at work would go back to normal tomorrow so expect the next update to be in a week.  
**

**Before scrolling down to the actual story, I got tons of reviews from the last two chapters and a lot of PMs. Let me answer a few questions/concerns that cropped up. **

**1. Yaoi?**

**A: **No, this is NOT going to be a Yaoi fic nor would I be turning Hari or anyone else into a bisexual. If there is going to be a pairing then it will be M/F. (Sorry guys, no F/F)

**2. People from Hari's world coming to Konoha?**

**A: **I'm not sure yet. All I can say is that Hari will be receiving a letter concerning some happenings back in Wizarding Britain, or the Magical World as a whole. I haven't hammered out the details yet but you'll just have to wait and see.

**3. Hari and Naruto is getting too powerful?**

**A: **You're point? I want it that way so there.

**4. Is everything going to be following Canon? **

**A: **Mostly though there would be non-canon stuff happening that would involve Hari.

**5. Who is Hari going to be paired with?**

**A: **Not sure yet. Just wait and see if I ever want him to be in a pairing.

**Now that's over and done with…on with the story. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 15: Chuunin Exams… Hajime!**

Team Mahora made up of Naruto, Haku, and Kenji made their way to the Konoha Academy for the first part of the Chuunin Exam. They didn't know what it was but they were confident enough with their skills to pass whatever they would face.

Their confidence stems from the support they had from their sensei…the gruesome training, the important advice, and the care that their senseis gave them made them look forward with confidence, not afraid of whatever they would be facing on their way.

Their confidence to pass the exams also stems from their teamwork, which all three of them prided themselves in. They can work solo if they had to but their teamwork were worked on to perfection. Everyone had their roles to play that would fit almost any situation.

For group combat, Naruto and Kenji were the front line fighters, drawing the enemy's fire while Haku would act as support, sniping them with his needles and spell from afar. Haku need not be protected thanks to his ice mirrors which was a formidable defense that only a few can penetrate.

In case of jutsu combat, since Kenji was relatively weak in that regard, Naruto would act as their ninjutsu specialist since he could spam wind techniques thanks to his newly-improved chakra reserves; while Haku would serve as their mobile shield since he could now control his ice mirrors to block multiple projectiles or combine them to block a big attack.

Haku tested it against Hari's medium-powered lightning technique since a full-powered one shattered it on the first try. It could last up to four shots with ease before breaking. Sano's Water Dragon didn't even faze the shield much to the ex-missing-nin's ire.

Haku was also the group's medic; able to utilize _mahoujutsu_ to heal any wounds outside lethal ones, along with a bunch of potions he kept safely tucked inside an expanded pouch on his hip.

Under the tutelage of Hari and the various books on medical techniques – both magic and shinobi – in the Mahora clan library, the ice-wielding Mahora was qutie confident of being able to meet his team's needs when it comes to healing.

Kenji became the stealth and assassination expert of the group. After raiding the Mahora library for a supplementary technique for the boy, they found the perfect one that Kenji could perform flawlessly, the _Chameleon Shade Technique_. This was a C-rank invisibility technique that bends lights around the caster to render himself invisible. Couple that with an enchanted necklace that Hari made for him that blocks out any scent and sound, he was virtually undetectable to the senses though Doujutsu users, like the Sharingan and Byakugan, would be able to see through his invisibility so he needed to be careful when faced with such opponents.

Hari trained Kenji in this jutsu every day until the boy could activate it without hand signs, giving him the advantage of turning invisible with ease at any time to launch a surprise attack towards the enemy.

Kenji was also trained in a few Katon jutsus since that was his main element. So far he had three under his disposal though he could use them only sparingly due to his low chakra reserves.

Since the exam was supposed to be in room 301 and all three of them were familiar with the building, Haku apparated them directly just outside the designated room. When they arrived, they could hear the commotion below, probably a fight which they totally ignored since they didn't want to spend energy over something useless.

They were surprised, however, when Hari appeared in front of them with a smile on his face.

"Glad you three could make it. Did you know that the elves are mad at all three of you for missing breakfast?" said Hari with a grin before handing Haku a matchbox "That's a shrunken box from the elves. There's food in there, knowing the elves, they would have enough there to feed an army. You can use them as rations if you wish. Anyway, just came here to wish you all good luck and do your best. I know all three of you could easily make Chuunin but if you think that it's too much for you to handle, there is nothing wrong in backing out. I prefer that all three of you alive instead of dead just to achieve a higher rank. Understood?"

Team Mahora nodded while giving their sensei a grin. Hari immediately knew that his team would pass the exams easily without question, of course with a few bumps and bruises along the way. That was expected after all.

"Neh, sensei, any advice regarding the exams?" asked Naruto curiously. They tried to find out what the exams were as they scouted every single competitions they had in the exams. So far, they didn't find anything substantial. All they were able to find out was the exam having three parts, each requiring a skill set that every Chuunin should have, both in and out of the field.

"Nope. The Chuunin Exam was developed to test your skills in any scenario. Working with the unknown is expected of you three since missions sometimes don't go according your way. The only thing I can tell you is that there are three exams for you to take, each exam to test a specific skill that is required for a Chuunin to have. Just stick together and remember your training. If all else fails, stick to your skill set and you'll do fine." advised Hari while ruffling Naruto and Kenji's hair much to the boys' annoyance. They didn't say anything about the information since they already knew what their sensei was hinting at.

"No problem, Hari-sensei. We'll make you proud." Kenji declared in which Haku and Naruto nodded eagerly.

"I already am. I never regretted taking you all in as my apprentices. Good luck. And Kenji, after this exam, we are going to talk about your adoption into the clan. Ja ne!" said Hari while giving his Genin team a proud smile before disappearing in a soft crack.

A flabbergasted and teary-eyed Kenji was being pounded on the back by an excited Haku and Naruto, happy that they would be getting their wish soon enough.

* * *

Team Mahora was currently leaning on the wall to wait for the first part of the exam to start. They already met the other Konoha Genins and chatted a bit before relaxing. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves so they stayed down; though their eyes were currently taking in all the Genins in the room, assessing their danger levels just in case.

It went relatively well until Sasuke asked a Konoha Genin by the name of Yakushi Kabuto for information about the other teams.

"Tell me what you know of Rock Lee, Sabaku no Gaara, Uzumaki Naruto, and Mahora Hari." demanded Sasuke to Kabuto causing the eyebrows of Team Mahora to twitch. Sure they could understand asking information about Naruto but their sensei? Now that was just taking it too far.

Since this was the perfect time to scope out the competition, Team Mahora channeled a bit of chakra to their ears to listen to Kabuto who pulled out a deck of cards and sorting through it before revealing the information they contained.

"Let me see, Rock Lee, Taijutsu expert, no skills in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten. Graduated before your group but their sensei, Maito Gai, decided to give them a year of experience and training before signing them up for the Chuunin Exams. Missions are 75 D-rank and 10 C-rank, and 3 B-rank; impressive for only a year of being an active shinobi." Kabuto commented before pulling out another card from the deck.

"Next we have is Sabaku no Gaara, a Genin of Sunagakure no Sato. He is known to have the ability to control sand and perform various attacks with it. Missions are 10 D-rank, 5 C-rank, and 2 B-rank, and 10 A-rank…wow!. Teammates includes his siblings, Sabaku no Kankuro and Sabaku no Temari. According to this, he came out on all his missions without a scratch on him. A powerful team to watch out for." All the Genins who heard that information shifted their gaze to the gourd-carrying redhead who was giving everyone a bloodthirsty smile though most of it was directed at Naruto who merely raised an eyebrow.

"We have…uh…Mahora-Uzumaki Naruto, formerly Uzumaki Naruto before he was adopted into the new Mahora Clan of Konoha. His teammates are Mahora Haku and Sato Kenji. Wow, his stats are pretty impressive. Taijutsu and ninjutsu are at low-Jounin level and rumored to have a technique unique to the Mahora clan considered as an absolute defense. I wonder what that is. He has huge chakra reserves that is rumored to surpass that of a Kage and rivaling a bijuu. No kenjutsu or genjutsu skills. Missions…wow, very mpressive! 428 D-ranks, 6 C-ranks, and 1 A-rank, all successful. C-rank missions were performed with only a two-man team composed of only him and his sensei, Mahora Hari. The A-rank was a bump up from a C-rank with Team 7. D-rank missions he did alone using his shadow clones to complete the team. According here, he assisted in taking down Gato's thugs who easily numbered at 300 with Momochi Zabuza, his apprentice, Hatake Kakashi, and Genin Sai. Wow! Quite a feat for someone labeled as the dead last of the Academy." finished Kabuto and staring at Team Mahora, more specifically at Naruto who's eyebrow was twitching madly because his information, which was quite accurate, was broadcasted to everyone in the room destroying the element of surprise.

"You know a lot for a Genin, Kabuto-san." Naruto said in a cold voice, glare at maximum making Kabuto sweat.

"Uhh…this is my seventh try at the exam and I make it a hobby of scoping out information…so...yeah." Kabuto said nervously which Naruto could feel that it was faked.

"Why hide, dobe?" asked Sasuke with a sneer. "Ashamed?"

Naruto didn't even grace him with a reply, merely shaking his head which infuriated the Uchiha. The other Genins were giving Naruto and his teammates a speculative look, though some of them were quite nervous after hearing the information given by Kabuto about him.

This was NOT the deadlast they knew from the Academy.

"Anyway, for your last query, Mahora Hari. I don't have a card on him since he is not a Genin but I have a Bingo Book with his name on it. Let me see…" said Kabuto as he pulled out his Bingo Book and turned a few pages. "Here we…are…holy shit! You have got to be kidding me!"

"What?" the rest of the Konoha Rookie shouted in unison which made Team Mahora chuckle in amusement. The Genins from other villages were also listening in, not wanting to pass up such an opportunity to acquire information even if the person wasn't in on the exams.

"Mahora Hari, the clan head of the recently put up Mahora Clan of Konoha. He came to Konoha roughly seven years ago and became a shinobi after a year of training. He has a unique bloodline which they named _Mahoujutsu (Magic Techniques)_ though the specifics on this bloodline is relatively unknown since he is more partial to using seal-less lightning techniques to devastating effect. In regards to his shinobi skills, he is a Tokubetsu Jounin and a powerful medic-nin with a note that he could easily heal any wounds even if the person is on the brink of death. His bloodline allows him to create unique elixirs that practically cleaned out the hospital of its patients and sold some of it to the public. According here, he goes by three aliases that merit his skills." Kabuto announced, pure disbelief on his face which made Team Mahora snicker.

"What aliases and skills are we talking about?" asked Nara Shikamaru who was quite interested in the information since his father spoke highly of the Mahora clan head.

"Let me see. He has three alias that merited him an A-rank shinobi in the Bingo Book with a bounty of 150,000,000 ryo with a flee on sight orders. According here, he was supposed to be classed as an S-rank shinobi but since he didn't kill any of his opponents, it was bumped down to A since that lowered his danger level a bit. Anyway, his aliases are: _Konoha no Raijin (Lightning God of Konoha)_ for his use of seal-less lightning techniques to devastating effect and he never seem to run out of energy in using them; _Jinsei no Shinobi (Shinobi of Life)_ for his ability to heal any wounds that kept many of his allies and enemies alive even on the brink of death, putting him almost on par with the famed Legendary Healer, Senju Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin; and finally, _Konoha no Happisadisuto o hikiokosu (Trigger Happy Sadist of Konoha)_ since he could fire his lightning techniques in rapid succession without pause and according here, he loves to electrocute his opponents while laughing like a maniac in the background. Holy shit of Kami! Is this guy for real?" asked Kabuto who immediately looked at Naruto for confirmation.

Naruto shivered when he remembered his many electrocutions under the hands of his sensei. Haku and Kenji did the same since they experienced it as well.

"Trust me, you _don't_ want to know." he said with fear in his eyes that made everyone who saw it shiver. Everyone could easily see the same fear in the eyes of Naruto's teammates, making them wonder what caused such a fear to manifest.

Gaara's eyes were twitching madly after hearing such information making his siblings take a step back since that was an indication that their brother was itching to fight…a very bloody fight.

Nothing of note happened after that since Sasuke was back to brooding and glaring while the rest of the Konoha Rookies were looking at Naruto with a bit of apprehension in their eyes. However, what annoyed Naruto was the various glares he was getting from the Genins of other villages. From the looks of it, they were killing him with their eyes alone.

"_What in the world did Hari-sensei do to make a lot of these Genins hate him?"_ thought Naruto in wonder. His private musings where interrupted when an inane comment from Kabuto caused the Sound team to attack him with a glancing blow. The attack was easily avoided but Kabuto's glasses broke and the guy threw up the remains of his breakfast on the floor. His interest piqued when his senstive ears picked up a high-pitch sound coming from the bandaged Sound Genin.

Naruto started tapping the wall which his teammates easily heard.

"_Sound guy using sound to attack ears. Copy?"_ Naruto tapped in code.

"_Copy."_ Both his teammates tapped in reply followed by Haku's continuous tapping.

"_Teammates possibly same. Agree?"_

"_Agree. Be prepared when faced."_ was all Naruto's reply before a scarred man appeared in the puff of smoke calling everyone to shut up and start going to their respective seats.

The first part of the Chuunin Exam has just begun.

* * *

While Naruto and his team was enjoying the first part of the Chuunin Exam, Hari was currently in his study reading through the reports of his spy elves that he immediately dispatched to gather information on Oto and Suna to gather more information on the upcoming invasion. He, as well as the Hokage, didn't like it when they were blind to such an event. Sure, their defenses were already hammered out but it was best to be careful.

Ever since he started his career as a shinobi, he asked Doppler to recruit 20 elves from Wizarding Britain to act as his spy team in the Elemental Nations – putting the number of his elves at four dozens. Thanks to their latent ability to remain hidden and their unique blend of transportation, they were effective spies and provided their master with a multitude of information ranging from mundane to important.

There were three reports that got him interested and concerned.

One report was a talk of an alliance between Suna and Oto. As far as he was concerned, alliances were supposed to be made with the blessing of another whom you had an alliance with. Since Suna was allied to Konoha, why in the world did Suna make an alliance with Oto without telling Konoha about it. Whatever that alliance entailed, it was something more than being allies to invade Konoha.

Another report was the activity of Oto shinobis all over the Elemental Nations. For the past years, Oto had been on a recruiting spree, taking in missing-nins by the dozens into their fold. He now knew why they did that…invasions needed manpower after all.

Finally, the third report that came in just this morning revealed that the mysterious leader of Otogakure was none other than Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin. One of his elves got lucky to overhear a conversation from a drunken Oto shinobi saying that "Orochimaru-sama" needed more people to experiment with. It was the break they were waiting for.

With the Snake Sannin involved, this invasion was going to be a lot bigger than they thought. He tapped the mirror on his desk to relay the information to the Hokage.

They needed to revise their plan since they were dealing with an S-class threat.

* * *

Sarutobi was currently massaging his temple after getting a headache when Hari informed him that Orochimaru was the leader of Oto. He didn't know how the Mahora clan head got this information that Jiraiya couldn't but it was a welcome one.

What's worse, Suna sent their resident jinchuuriki to participate in the Chuunin Exam. That alone had a lot of wrongs written all over it. It had the smell of a set-up, an advance preparation for something worst to come. Thanks to Hari's information on Sabaku no Gaara, they knew how volatile this jinchuuriki was and plans needed to be revised to contain the boy if necessary.

Thankfully, if ever the bijuu did break out from the boy, at least they had _two_ boss summons in the village with large enough size to contain the threat if need be.

Since they were dealing with Orochimaru, they needed something more to counter his wayward student.

It was time to bring Jiraiya home sooner than expected.

* * *

Naruto's eyebrow was twitching madly as he refrained himself from slamming his head on the table in frustration. He finally figured out the first exam. It was a written test and the point deduction system hinted a blatant, yet hidden instruction to cheat if they wanted to pass.

After all, how can a Genin-aspiring-to-be-Chuunin answer questions that only an experienced Chuunin or first-time Jounin would know. Despite his studies in the shinobi arts, he was wholly unprepared for such a test.

He was a fighter damn it, not a walking shinobi encyclopedia.

Sighing, he looked down and grinned when he saw the ring on his finger. It was a ring with the Mahora clan symbol on its face. But aside from identifying the wearer of being part of the Mahora clan, it had unique features that his sensei _enchanted_ to help the clan. He was going to use one of its features now.

Sending a surge of chakra into the ring, it glowed a bit before feeling his mind stretch out to his fellow teammates who also wore the same rings on their fingers.

"_Haku? Kenji?"_ Naruto mentally called out.

"_Naruto?"_ Kenji voice echoed in his mind.

"_Something wrong, Naruto?"_ asked Haku.

"_Sorry to barge in on you guys like this but I need help. I think you guys already know that we have to cheat in order to pass this exam right?"_

"_Is that the reason why the Hyuuga guy beside me is using his Byakugan to copy the answers from a Genin in front of him?"_ Kenji asked dryly. _"No shit. We had to cheat if we want to get to the next part of the exam. These questions are insane!"_

"_Well, if that is the case then why contact us, Naruto?"_ asked Haku, calmly which made Naruto's finger twitch in annoyance. Sometimes, Haku just loved to rile him up.

"_As if you didn't know? My abilities are on fighting and not information gathering. I can't bring out my shadow clones since that would be quite obvious. Any ideas?"_

"_Hmmm…blow up the room and steal their papers during the commotion?" _Kenji suggested causing his two teammates to sweat drop.

"_You're spending too much time with sensei, Kenji."_ Naruto deadpanned.

"_He is a good sensei."_ declared Kenji happily. _"Not to mention he would be my future clan head as well. Woot!"_

"_Fine. I didn't say that Hari-sensei is a bad sensei. He is just too…destructive and it's rubbing on you."_ Naruto pointed out. He got a mental image of Kenji sticking his tongue out at him.

"_Kenji's idea is a good one."_ Haku quipped from his end of the mental connection.

"_Not you too!"_ Naruto exclaimed in annoyance.

"_I'm not destructive, Naruto. I'm just saying that it's a good idea. How good are you with your wind manipulation?" _asked Haku.

"_Good enough. I can control wind to an extent. Why you ask?" _Naruto queried, curiosity getting the better of his annoyance.

"_Before that, Kenji, how many smoke pellets you have in that pouch of yours?"_ Haku asked his other teammate.

"_I have 30, all ready to use. What have you got in mind, Haku?" _Kenji asked with a bit of excitement in his mental voice.

"_Alright, here's the plan. Kenji, I want you to drop the smoke bombs on the floor and let it roll to different directions. I'll tell you later when to activate them. Naruto, I want you to use your wind manipulation to stop any air movements in the room to make sure that the smoke stays in one place to block everyone's sight. _

"_And what are you going to do?"_ asked Naruto, liking the plan already.

"_I am going to use my Hyoton to thicken the smoke and drop the temperature a bit to add to the distraction. Kenji, I want you to go invisible and steal us three completed test papers and deliver it to me and Naruto. When you get back to your seat, Naruto will get rid of the smoke and I'll return the temperature to normal. Kenji, scout around and find your targets. Give us a heads up when you got a lock."_

The mental connection was silent for a few seconds before Naruto's voice came in.

"_You're one scary shinobi, Haku, you know that right?"_

"_I know."_ Haku replied in a pleased tone that made Naruto and Kenji shake their heads in amusement.

* * *

It was 30 minutes later that Kenji locked on to his targets, three Genins finished with their respective tests while checking out others as well and mapping them out. He signaled his teammates through their artificial mind link to begin the plan. He slowly started dropping smoke pellets on the floor and kicking them to different locations underneath the tables to scatter them around.

When Haku gave the signal to begin the operation, all hell broke loose.

The smoke pellets exploded covering the entire room in thick smoke.

Naruto immediately stopped all air currents in the room while Haku started dropping the temperature.

Kenji immediately went invisible before stealing the test papers from his targets and then some to thin out the competition. He didn't encounter any problems since the various shouts from Genins when they noticed their papers missing proved to be another distraction which kept them out of the loop.

After giving the test papers to Haku and Naruto, as well as keeping one for his own and pocketing the rest; he gave the signal to his teammates to execute the last part of the operation.

The temperature slowly returned to normal but it seemed that Naruto had other plans.

After warning his teammates to closely hold their papers and channel chakra to their feet, the blonde Mahora let loose a small tornado inside the room that practically threw everyone around like a ping pong ball. Papers and Genins flew around the room with some of the tables and chairs accompanying them. Some of them had the foresight to stick to the floor using chakra but most of them were caught unawares so they weren't prepared when strong winds picked them up from their seats and tossed them around.

When the smoke cleared, Team Mahora observed the destruction they caused, or in this case, the destruction that Naruto caused.

The room was a wreck, some of the tables and chairs were no longer in their position. Some of them were even smashed on the walls.

The Chuunins and the scarred examiner were currently looking around for the culprit, eyes twitching in annoyance.

The Genins who lost their papers started grabbing any papers they came across to avoid getting penalized and failing the exam.

All-in-all, it was a successful operation and Team Mahora faked emotions on their faces to avoid pinning the blame on themselves.

Twenty minutes later, the exam was called to a halt with the tenth question being asked. Obviously, Team Mahora just chose to remain silent while other Genins were ranting and raving at the smirking examiner. Those who wanted to quit left the room to try their luck next time but those who had some guts in their system chose to remain and brave the last question while praying to Kami that they chose right.

The tension was broken when the examiner announced that those who stayed passed the exam. After a brief explanation on the nature of the question, everyone quieted down but the silence was broken when a black ball broke through the window to land front of the examiner's table before exploding into smoke.

The smoke cleared to reveal a tarpaulin with the words _**The Sexy and Still Tragically Single, Mitarashi Anko. Proctor of the second part of the Chuunin Exam.**_

"Whoah! What happened to the room, Ibiki?" asked Anko in surprise when she saw the state of the Genins, as well as the furniture inside the exam room. It looked like a tornado swept through the room. In this case, she was right on that assumption.

"Some talented schmuck let lose a tornado in here that practically destroyed the place. These are the ones who survived and passed the exam." Ibiki answered with an annoyed look on his face and Anko bursting into insane laughter.

"Ku ku ku…you passed 22 teams. Don't worry; I'll cut them in half on the next phase." Anko assured him before addressing the stunned crowd. "Alright, gakis! Meet me in Training Ground 44 in exactly 20 minutes. Get there late then you fail. Now MOVE IT!"

The bedlam that followed was deafening though Haku simply grabbed his teammates and apparated out of the room towards the next part of their exam.

* * *

Thanks to Haku, they arrived just outside the fenced boundary of Training Ground 44. He knew where it was since he usually spends a bit of his time in said training ground with Sano hunting down the larger predators to make sure that none of beasties stray too close to their clan compound.

Sure, they had wards keeping them out but it was be troublesome to have the predators make a home practically outside your doorstep.

That and the noise they make were very annoying especially in the middle of the night, _especially_ during the mating season.

It took three nights of the wolves howling that their clan head finally snapped, kicking Sano out of the compound just outside the forest in the middle of the night and ordered the man to do something about it. Sano did as ordered since he wouldn't say no to shed some blood, even if it was from animals.

Sano was simply too bloodthirsty, his love of blood would give Anko a run for her money.

Of course, Haku had to accompany his former master since Sano would depopulate the forest of anything remotely alive if left unchecked.

Since they didn't have anything better to do, Haku brought out the shrunken box containing the food the elves gave them for breakfast. They hardly ate anything that morning before going to the Academy to take the Chuunin Exam so a bite of early lunch wouldn't be amiss.

After wandlessly conjuring a towel on the grassy floor, Haku started bringing out the delicious food that the Mahora elves were known to make. The elves outdid themselves since there was enough food there to feed a dozen and then some. Kenji and Naruto attacked the food with gusto since they were hungry as well.

That was how Anko found them when she arrived just outside the forest where the second part of the exam was to take place.

"Whoah! How in Kami's name did you gaki's get here so quickly?" exclaimed Anko in surprise while eyeing the food spread on the towel, more specifically, the plate full of dango that had her salivating on the spot.

"We already know where the training ground is." said Naruto after gulping down a rice ball whole. "Hari-sensei brings me here most of the time during my training to give me…um…what did he call it? Oh yeah, _live training_." He said the last part with a shiver.

"So you're Hari's student huh? Why doesn't that surprise me?" said Anko with a nod of understanding. If there was one person more sadistic than her in training, it was Hari. She taught him well. She eyed the food hungrily. "Got a spot for one more, kid? There's a plate of dango in that spread of yours with my name on it."

Team Mahora simply nodded and Anko didn't waste any time grabbing the dango and eating them with relish.

Since they had plenty of time to spare, Anko interviewed Team Mahora of how Hari trained them. She couldn't help but chuckle evilly when he heard what the famous Tokubetsu Jounin subjected his team for training.

Torture was the word she would use when Kenji told her how he got his skills in just a month of training.

* * *

It was 15 minutes later that the Genins who passed the first phase of the Chuunin Exam arrived outside the fenced Training Ground 44. The Konoha Genins, except for Team Mahora who were still sitting down on their perch drinking some juice the elves packed for them looking unconcerned and relaxed, were eyeing the forest in fear since quite a lot of scary noises were coming from it.

After a brief confrontation between Anko, Sasuke, and a Kusa (Grass) Genin, she finally got down to explaining the mechanics of the second exam.

The exam was pretty simple. All they needed to do was survive the forest for five days, acquire the needed scroll to pass (Heaven and Earth scroll, a team needed both to pass), and make their way to the tower in the middle of the forest. Many considered it simple but changed their mind when Anko pointed out that the forest was home to predators that would love to eat them whole.

When the waivers were passed around and signed, they were given their respective scrolls.

Five minutes later, they were ushered into the forest for the start of the exam.

* * *

"Haku, no!" shouted Naruto in an exasperated voice.

"Please?" pleaded Haku in the most innocent and cute face he could muster. He was able to pull it off successful thanks to his somewhat feminine beauty.

"No! Sensei would have a conniption fit if you brought that…that…_thing_ home. Imagine what Sano would do? That _thing_ has dinner written all over it."

Haku's pleading face turned murderous at the thought of Sano turning the creature he was holding into food.

"He wouldn't dare!" Haku exclaimed in anger. His cute bunnies wouldn't end up as dinner if he had anything to say about it.

"He does have a point Haku." Kenji quipped as he eyed the very large unconscious rabbit that Haku just…tranquilized a few minutes ago using his senbons. It had soft white fur, cuddly ears, and a bushy tail. It would have been a normally cute rabbit if you didn't take into consideration its 6-foot height, claws on hands and feet, as well as fangs just peeking out of its mouth.

Haku pouted but gave a resigned nod. He was a sucker for rabbits, even the rabid ones that was only found inside the Forest of Death. Naruto wouldn't put it past the ice-wielding shinobi to come back later to…procure one.

It was 10 minutes after they entered the forest that they were accosted by a pack of gigantic rabbits on steroids. Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Sure, he knew that the Forest of Death was home to many predators, overly large predators; but a rabbit?

It was unbelievable.

Of course, he was caught by surprise when Haku squealed, yes squealed, and started hitting the rabbits with various senbon needles that he conjured out of nowhere. Said rabbits didn't stand a chance and were unconscious a few seconds later and was being petted and groomed by an overly ecstatic shinobi.

The sad part was Haku wanting to bring them home. Naruto had to stop him or their sensei would be all over them. That was a torment they wanted to avoid at all cost.

"No is no, Haku." Naruto said adamantly. "If you really want one as a pet then you need to _ask_ sensei for permission. You don't really want to get on his bad side when he sees a flesh-eating rabbit inside the compound."

Haku shuddered. He could practically feel lightning all over his body at the thought of his clan head getting mad at him for bringing the cute things home. He'll just have to ask him later.

"Anyway, rabbits aside, do both of you have an idea how we're going to get an Earth Scroll?" Kenji asked calmly. They received a Heaven Scroll earlier before entering the forest and they need an Earth Scroll before heading over to the tower. At the moment, the scroll was with Haku since he could easily protect it with her skill set.

"Any idea who has an Earth Scroll?" asked Haku, rabbits already shoved to the back of his mind for later. Not forgotten, but postponed.

"Nope." said Naruto with a shake of his head. "They were careful in giving out the scroll and the competition immediately hid their scrolls from prying eyes. I say we do this the old-fashioned way."

"I hate it when you say that." said Kenji with a shudder, he could feel the phantom pain coursing through his body. "The last time you said that, sensei clobbered us silly."

"If you have a better plan then spit it out." Naruto said with a huff. It wasn't his fault that he was bad at planning. It was during one of their many spars with their sensei that he made a miscalculation on his perfect on-the-spot plan. The end was all three of them getting trapped inside an electric barrier being toasted on the spot with their sensei cackling in accompaniment to their screams.

"Cut it out you two. Let's me try something." said Haku before picking up a piece of wood, around 6 inches in length from the forest floor. He placed it on the palm of his hand and incanted a spell. _**"Point Me Earth Scroll."**_

The trio watched the spinning wood on Haku's palm as it started pointing at different direction every few seconds, pausing in between spins. Eventually, it stopped pointing at one due north from their position.

"I guess the teams with the Earth Scroll are scattered around the forest already. Any idea why it pointed north, Haku?" asked Naruto, curious as to why the stick stopped in that direction.

"I guess that one is closer." Haku replied with a shrug before getting rid of the stick.

"Alright then, let's head north." Naruto declared with Haku and Kenji nodding in agreement.

* * *

It took ten minutes for Team Mahora to find a team that was supposed to have the Earth Scroll according to Haku's spell. Naruto, followed by Haku and Kenji, landed on a branch hidden from the eyes of the team below.

When the trio sensed the other team's chakra signatures during their approach, they immediately suppressed theirs to avoid detection.

"_Sound Team. The same ones that attacked Kabuto during the first exam."_ Haku said in their mental connection.

"_You're right. They seem to be talking about something. Can you make out what they're saying?"_ Kenji asked his two teammates.

"_Nope. They are whispering and they are too far away from us at the moment. Chakra-enhanced hearing would have worked but one of them might be able to detect us."_ answered Naruto as he tried reading the lips of the girl who was talking to her mummy-like teammate to no avail. _"Haku?"_

"_They are suppressing their chakra to the barest minimum so I can't get an accurate reading on their strength. Judging from how tight their controls are, I suspect they are high-Genin to low-Chuunin."_ reported Haku, straining his sensing abilities to the fullest trying to get a read on their quarry. _"Any plans?"_

Whatever reply Naruto or Kenji would have to that question had to be stopped since they all felt a large build-up of chakra heading their way. Team Mahora jumped as one from their perch just in time for a wave of something similar to wind hit the thick branch and turning it to shreds.

Team Mahora jumped down to the clearing and faced the Sound team who were smirking at them. One of the guys had both of his hands raised; the holes in his palms were smoking.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" asked the Sound genin with his faced wrapped in bandages. He noticed the _hitai-ates_. "Ah, Konoha Genins. Not the team we were hoping to meet but it doesn't matter."

"From the smoking holes in your palms, you were the one who sent that attack?" asked Haku calmly, eyeing the enemies in front of him, gauging their strengths. Whatever that attack was, it was definitely powerful to be able to shred a large branch with just a single blast. "What did you mean about the team you were hoping to meet?"

"What is it to you, pretty boy?" the teen said with a smirk making Haku frown since he hated being called 'pretty'. He had enough of that from his teammates. It wasn't his fault that he was born with a body shaped like a female even if he was a male. "You think you can hide from us huh? Planning an ambush? We're not your average rookies you know."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag. How did you find us anyway? We were suppressing our chakra." asked Naruto as he eyed the team in front of him. He could sense Haku and Kenji in their unique mental connection silently assessing the situation though he could feel a bit of irritation flowing from Haku's.

"You might be good enough to hide your chakra and your presence but the _sounds_ you make are quite easy for us to pick up. We specialize in sound after all and you're breathing gave you away." The bandaged genin answered while putting a hand on his holed gauntlet.

"Ah," said Kenji with a nod, making everyone look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? It stands to reason I supposed. They are from the Hidden Village of _Sound_ so sound had to be their specialty right?"

"You had a knack for stating the obvious." said the teen with holes in his palm. "So you came here for our scroll? You picked the wrong team, buddy."

"Well, you have the scroll we need so I say that we picked right." Naruto stated with a smirk.

"How did you know that we got the scroll you need?" the lone girl in the Sound team challenged.

"Earth Scroll." Naruto answered which surprised the Sound Genins. "As to how we know, well, that's…a secret."

"Enough talk." growled the Genin with holes in his palm, aiming them at Naruto and his teammates. _**"Decapitating Air Waves!"**_

Twin blasts of concentrated sound erupted from the holes in the Genin's palm heading straight for Team Mahora who didn't move. Before it was about to hit, four ice mirrors materialized in front of the incoming attack and combined. The attack hit Haku's defense, causing the concentrated sound waves to crash harmlessly on its face before dissipating.

"What was that?" the Genin who fired the attack looked at the mirror in disbelief. His powerful attack was snuffed out…just like that.

"Be careful, Zaku. It is not wise to attack an opponent without knowing their strength." said the bandaged man to his teammate as he took in the situation they were in.

"I don't care about their strength, Dosu." Zaku growled before firing another round of his attack which didn't faze the defensive mirror in the slightest. He was about to fire a continuous barrage when a voice echoed from behind mirror of ice, which quickly parted to show Naruto punching his gut with a fist.

"_**Fuuton: Drilling Air Bullet!" **_

Four balls of concentrated air flew out from Naruto's mouth towards the Sound Team who dodged by jumping out of the way. Unfortunately for the Sound trio, this was what the Mahora Team was waiting for as they blurred and attacked their respective opponenents away from each other, wanting to engage them one-on-one.

* * *

After firing off his bullets of air, Naruto eyes immediately locked in on Zaku and disappeared in a blur of speed, appearing in front of his surprised opponent and socked him right on the jaw which threw him away from the group. He dashed forward to hit him for the second time but was caught by surprise when his opponent righted himself in mid-air and aimed his right palm towards him.

"If you think that's enough to stop me then you have another thing coming." Zaku growled out before firing. _**"Decapitating Air Waves!"**_

Naruto immediately started doing his own seals at Jounin-level speeds and threw his hands forward.

"_**Futon: Great Breakthrough!" **_

A powerful gust of wind was pushed out of his hands which met Zaku's in between them. The pressure of both attacks combined for a bit before exploding, throwing the two back from the shockwave. Naruto channeled a bit of chakra to his feet which stopped him from being blown back while Zaku did the same as he clung to a tree. Both eyed each other for a second before blurring out at great speeds, engaging in a furious taijutsu fight. Both punched and kicked at each other which were either dodged or swept aside harmlessly.

Naruto ducked from a kick but was surprised when he noticed Zaku's left palm strategically placed in front of his face using the momentum from the attack.

Knowing what was coming, Naruto gathered a bit of chakra to his palms and slammed it on the ground.

"_**Tiger Palms!"**_

The moment Naruto's chakra-laced palm hit the forest floor, coupled with his brutish strenght, caused the ground to erupt upwards, throwing debris everywhere except at Naruto.

Zaku had to quickly dash out of the way to avoid getting hit by the earthy projectiles. Naruto saw his chance and channeled chakra to both his palms and hit his opponent on the chest and stomach.

"_**Double Tiger Palm Thrust!"**_

The force of the double chakra-enhanced blow proved too much for Zaku as the attack exploded on his chest and stomach, propeling him backwards to hit a tree with a loud crack. He screamed in pain as he felt the bones in his chest crack and his innards almost turning into mush.

Naruto saw his opponent slump to the ground and grinned at the sight.

"It is quite foolish of you to keep attacking me with the same move. You fired that thing so many times that it was easy to determine its schematics." Naruto informed his opponent calmly who was now trying to push himself off the ground.

"S-shut…up." Zaku managed to growl out amidst the pain he was feeling. From the amount of pain in his body, he sustained quite a lot of damage in that single attack. Ignoring the pain he was feeling, he quickly took out three kunais from his rear pouch and flung them towards Naruto who merely raised an eyebrow and caught each weapon easily.

"Thanks." Naruto said with a smile before throwing the weapons back which hit Zaku on both shoulders and on the thigh. "Back at ya."

Zaku screamed as each of the projectile embedded itself into his body, additional pain coursing through his system. Thankfully, Naruto spared him the misery by quickly using _Shunshin_ to appear beside the teen and chopped him behind the neck, knocking him out.

"That was anti-climactic." Naruto mused as he picked up the unconscious Genin from the ground and placed him over his shoulder. "I wonder if the others are done?"

* * *

Kenji was annoyed. Because he was slow in picking out an opponent, he ended up fighting a girl. It was one of his weakness that he didn't tell anyone about. He didn't like to fight girls. He wasn't a sexist since girls can be downright scary when they wanted to be but it was deeply ingrained into him to 'respect' girls being a man and all.

Because of his chivalrous nature, he was currently dodging senbons after senbons from the girl who was clearly getting frustrated from not being able to hit her quarry.

"Why don't you stand still and let me hit you like a good boy." the girl said with annoyance, flinging another batch of senbons which Kenji didn't dodge, but batted away using one of his _tantos_. He quirked an eyebrow at the girl.

"Well, _excuse_ me for not wanting to be turned into a pinchushion." Kenji said mockingly. He definitely didn't want to get hit by those…things. He had plenty of experience of that from Haku who favored using senbons to incapcitate his opponents. He was subjected to that plenty of times and it was only thanks to the potions his sensei gave him that he was able to move afterwards.

"Don't underestimate me, idiot." growled the girl who drew out a senbon and dashed towards her opponent. Kenji lazily brought up his tanto to block the senbon. Both were in a stalemate.

"I'm not underestimating you, _my dear_." Kenji purred. Even if the girl was the enemy, she was cute. He didn't have any luck bagging a Konoha girl to date but maybe he would be lucky in trying his hand from another village. "Besides, it is not my nature to hurt a lady, especially someone as _beautiful_ as yourself. Might I know your name?"

The girl blushed before giving Kenji a look that spelled humiliation before dying a painful death.

"You're not getting my name, you chauvanistic…pig." said the girl in disgust before engaging her opponent in a taijutsu-kenjutsu fight, using her senbon skillfully to attack and defend.

"I resent that." Kenji quipped. He was impressed. Despite having the inferior weapon, the girl was putting it to good use. It was quite clear that the girl had knowledge on the human body since she was trying to poke him in places that would be either too painful or put him in a state of weakness. Thankfully, his spars with Haku prepared him for such an attack so he was able to skillfully dodge or parry every single poke with his two tantos, weaving them together to form a defensive dance while utilizing his footwork to evade various punches and kicks aimed his way.

He found an opening when the girl overextended her thrust that would have hit him on the chest if he didn't swerve to the side. He used the flat of his blade to hit the girls wrist which made her let go of her weapon before spinning and use the same side of his other tanto to hit her on the back of the neck, knocking her out.

"Darn it. I didn't even get her name." Kenji said with a sigh as he picked up the girl he just knocked unconscious in a bridal carry. "Maybe Haku can use that mind-thingy sensei taught him to get her name."

* * *

Haku could have easily dispatched his opponent if he was allowed to use his magic. However, he and his fellow teammates agreed that it was best not to use magic to avoid alerting the competition, promising that he would be sticking to his shinobi skills to get through to the tasks unless it was a dire situation.

This was the reason why he was dodging out of the way from the punches of his opponent who was clearly not planning on hitting him; instead, trying to use that weird sound technique from his gauntlet…similar to what he did with Kabuto back during the first part of the exam.

"Is dodging a Konoha specialty?" asked Dosu sarcastically as one of his punches was dodged again. It was clear that his opponent knew something of his _Melody Arm_ since he was putting a bit of a distance between them.

"Yes if my opponent is using sound to attack without the opponent knowing about it." Haku said in an annoyed tone. Despite being able to dodge the attack, some of the sound still made its way to his ear, causing him to lose a bit of balance in the process. Thankfully, his training with Hari made it possible for him to keep his wits about it.

"So you know of my _Melody Arm,_ huh?" said Dosu, impressed that his opponent knew of what he was capable off despite showing it only once.

"You _did_ use it in the first part of the exam and it was quite easy to pick up if you're observant enough." said Haku as he flipped through a series of one hand seals, surprising his opponent. _**"Thousand Water Needles of Death."**_

Thanks to the upgrade from being adopted into the Mahora clan, he could now conjure moisture from the air to support his many water techniques. Unlike Sano who needed a water source for his jutsus, he can now shoot them off without having to worry about needing one. Needles made of water appeared to surround Dosu who was staring at them wide-eyed, he didn't get to say anything since he was busy dodging the attack though some of them were able to get through his guard. Thankfully, none of them were fatal hits.

"You're going to pay for that." growled Dosu, trying to ignore the pain from the various wounds he received from the attack. He was caught unaware when a kick hit him on the chin courtesy of Haku who took advantage of the situation to launch an attack.

Haku's kick was strong enough to propel Dosu upwards and apparated right on top of the boy at the peak of his ascent. Haku punched the flying boy in the stomach with a chakra-enchanced fist that threw him back on the ground with a loud thud. This was later followed by three senbons that hit the boy accurately on the pressure points on the neck, putting him in a death-like state.

Haku landed beside his downed opponent and checked for a pulse.

"Whew. I thought I missed considering I was throwing blind." said Haku with a relieved sigh before levitating the Genin from the ground. "Now to find Naruto and Kenji. They should be done with their opponents already."

Haku walked back to the clearing with his captive in tow. There he found Naruto sitting down on a log beside an unconscious Zaku while Kenji was poking at the bells on the Sound kunoichi's hip. It was Naruto who saw him first.

"How did it go?" asked Naruto curiously while eyeing Dosu's floating form.

"Annoying," said Haku as he rubbed his right ear. "I might have evaded his sound attack but it still caught me. My ear is ringing as it is."

"Any idea how he did it?" asked Kenji, sitting down beside Naruto, already bored from checking out the kunoichi's bells. He didn't find out what they were for.

Haku pointed at the holed gauntlets on Dosu's arm.

"He called it his _Melody Arm_. If I was to surmise its use, I would say that it requires chakra and movement to produce a high-pitch sound to attack an opponnent's hearing, disorienting them to the point of being incapacitated. He didn't get me directly but it was a touch and go situation there."

"I see. Glad that you're alright, Haku." said Naruto with a smile before it turned into a frown. "How are you with that mind spell Hari-sensei taught you?"

"Good enough, why do you ask?" Haku asked curiously. He learned the _Legilimens Curse_ after reading it from a book on Mind Arts, with blessings from his sensei of course. It was a useful spell to have for interrogating captives unless you like torturing them first to make them squeal. It was less messy to do the former than the latter.

"That guy," Naruto pointed at Dosu. "Mentioned that they were aiming for another Konoha team. I want to find out who and why."

"Ah, I see. I guess I have to wake him up first." said Haku, lowering Dosu to the ground and removing the senbons still stabbed on the teen's neck, getting rid of the death-like state he placed him in. He pointed a finger at the teen and incanted the spell to wake him up. _**"Enervate."**_

The spell did its job as Dosu groaned, his eyes fluttering open.

"What happened?" Dosu asked groggily but he didn't get to say anything else when Haku made eye contact with the boy.

"_**Legilimens."**_

Dosu's eyes glazed as Haku invaded his mind, checking out the boy's memories. It was a few minutes later that Haku ended the spell and stunning the Genin back into unsconsious.

"You were right. Something is definitely up." Haku said with a frown as he looked down at Dosu's prone form.

"What did you find out?" asked Kenji.

"It would seem that the Sound Team's leader is Orochimaru. He is the leader of Oto. From his memories, he was supposed to attack and get rid of Sasuke though Dosu is of a mind that his leader is up to something since he knew that Orochimaru was interested in the last loyal Uchiha."

"Anything else you got from him?" asked Naruto with a grim look on his face. He knew all about Orochimaru thanks to the history books his sensei crammed into his brain during his first month of training. If the S-class missing-nin was involved then something serious was up.

"Nothing else except for Orochimaru interested in the Sharingan and an upcoming event on the final stage of the exam. Without him actively thinking about it, I can't find the memory it is related to. I know the spell but I don't have the proficiency of shifting through all the boy's memories without him thinking about it." Haku admitted. He was picking up magic at a astounding pace but mastery with the spells he learned would take time and experience. So far, he focused more on battle and healing spells since these were his forte.

"I think we need to get a message to sensei and tell him everything that happened. I wouldn't put it past Orochimaru to have something planned for Konoha. Anyone got a pen and paper?" asked Naruto, looking at his two teammates.

Kenji shrugged a negative while Haku rolled his eyes before conjuring a paper and pen that his sensei was so fond of using. He learned that it was from Hari's world that he brought along with him. It was a whole lot easier to write with than ink and brush. Faster and less messy.

"Thanks, Haku." said Naruto as he started penning the missive, describing everything they learned. Kenji was peeking over his shoulder, adding some details that the blonde missed. "There, that's done. Now to send it off." He bit his thumb and swiped a trail of blood down his summong tattoo before going through seals and slamming his palm on the ground. _**"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kazetora!"**_

A medium-sized orange and black striped tiger appeared in front of the group. It was similar to the other tigers Naruto could summon except that it carried a small pack on its neck. Clearly, it was a messenger tiger. It sniffed around before landing its eyes on its summoner.

"**Oi, Naruto. It's been a long time since you last summoned me. What's up?"** asked Kazetora as he bounded over to the blonde.

"Hey there, Kaze." Naruto greeted the tiger and giving it a scratch behind the ear causing it to purr in happiness. "I have a letter I want you to deliver to Hari-sensei."

"**Sure thing."** relied the tiger, raising its head a bit so Naruto could undo the clasp on the small bag it carried. The blonde removed the clasp, placed the letter inside then replaced the lock, keeping it safe during travel.

"I don't know where Hari-sensei is right now but I'm sure you can find him." said Naruto as he gave the tiger another scratch.

"**No problem. The wind will tell me."** the tiger said cryptically before releasing a loud roar and bounded off into the shadows of the forest to deliver its message.

Naruto smiled at the tiger's retreating form before turning around to face his teammates. Haku was sitting on a log while Kenji was inspecting the Sound Team's gears. It was a minute later that he shouted in triumph.

"Aha! Found it!" Kenji crowed, holding up a scroll with the Kanji of 'Earth' on its face.

"Great. Now all we need to do is get to the tower for the next phase of the exam." said Naruto with a grin before turning to Haku with a questioning eyebrow raised. "Any idea where that is?"

Haku shook his head before answering.

"Nope. I may have spent a lot of time here with Sano but we didn't get to go far into the forest since we were more focused around the compound. If I remember the map right, the tower should be in the middle of the forest. I could use the locator spell again if you want."

"Please do. The faster we get there the better. We don't know what the next phase of the exam would be so it's better to be well rested for it just in case." Naruto said with a nod. He noticed Kenji emptying the Sound Genin's packs. Raising an eyebrow, he asked his teammate. "What are _you_ doing, Kenji?"

"What else? Making sure that these guys won't give everyone problems during this phase of the exams." said Kenji as he emptied the Sound Team's supplies and piled them on top of a sealing scroll he had on him. A brief application of chakra later, everything was sealed inside. "There. All done!"

"If I didn't know any better, you're scavenging." Haku pointed out with a grin. Kenji gave him a betrayed look.

"I am not scavenging. Spoils of war and all that." Kenji quipped before pocketing the sealing scroll on his pouch and tossed Haku the Earth Scroll who caught it with ease. "Get your stick and point us in the right direction so we can get to the tower."

"Demanding much?" Haku asked, annoyed, while picking up a stick from the ground and placing it on his palm.

"Nah, just stating the obvious, bro." said Kenji with a smug smile on his face before yelping out in pain when Haku shot him a stinging hex which hit him in the groin.

"Obvious _that_, smart ass." Haku said vindictively as he watched Kenji squirm on the ground while holding on to his aching bits.

* * *

Thanks to Haku's locator spell pointing them in the right direction, Team Mahora made it to the tower two hours after their encounter with the Sound team. They left them there with a small Notice-Me-Not ward that Haku scrounge up to keep them safe from predators for a few hours. After that, they were on their own.

Aside from a stray Rain-nin that they had to put down along the way, their journey to the tower was relatively uninterrupted. Since they took to the trees, they avoided the large creatures below though they had to remind Haku again to set his priorities straight after seeing six of those huge rabbits he was so fond of.

After opening the Earth and Heaven scroll when they got to the tower, Iruka greeted them and explained the inscription on the wall. They were ushered to their rooms since they were the first to ever reach the tower, a record according to Iruka which made Team Mahora beam in pride.

Since they had four more days to wait for the next phase of the exam, Naruto asked Haku to apparate them back to the Mahora compound to relax since they had nothing better to do.

* * *

**End of chapter 15**

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait people. I have been quite busy as of late and my muse was concentrating on Awakening of a Sorcerer. Anyway, here's chapter 16. If all goes well (and I hope it does), I will have chapter 17 up and running later today or tomorrow…I hope.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Orochimaru and a Letter.**

Hari was annoyed. It was after the start of the second phase of the Chuunin Exam that he received a missive from his blonde student. It would seem that Orochimaru had other plans aside from invading Konoha and that plan had something to do with Uchiha Sasuke.

A few minutes after reading a missive, he received a message from Shikaku through the enchanted communication earrings that an ANBU patrol reported a withered skin of a Kusa Genin just a few meters from the boundary of the Forest of Death.

Hari knew that this was Orochimaru and Anko going of to chase the man was another indication to that fact.

Here he was, jumping from tree to tree, following the direction his wand pointed to when he cast the locator spell to find Anko. He didn't know about Orochimaru enough to successfully use the locator spell on him so Anko was the next best thing. If he was lucky then he could head this off before his favorite torturer and sensei got herself in a fix that she couldn't get out from.

Also, he was miffed with himself for not considering including the dangerous forest into the Marauder's Map. It would have saved him a lot of trouble if he thought of that in advance. He made a mental note to conscript some of the elves to map out the place later since it was quite possible that the invasion force would use the infamous training ground as an entry point; well, some of the crazy ones anyway.

It didn't take long for Hari to get to Anko, right on time too considering that the kunoichi was currently screaming in pain while the Snake Sannin grinning evily at her. Not wasting any time, he pointed a finger at Orochimaru and cast a bludgeoning hex that hit the Sannin in the stomach, throwing him back to hit the tree with a loud thud.

He realized a few seconds later why he didn't just use the Killing Curse and be done with it.

Hari jumped down to stand in between the two, seeing Orochimaru up close and personal for the first time. A brief description of the man made him compare the missing-nin to Voldemort. Not a good comparison but a comparison all the same.

"Orochimaru. Fancy meeting you here of all places." Hari said casually though he was mentally preparing himself since he was face-to-face with an S-class shinobi. If there was going to be a fight then he may need to bring out his more…magical arsenal to bring this guy down.

"Ku ku ku. I don't know what technique you used but you got me that time. What was it?" asked Orochimaru with a smirk on his face though he was inwardly worried since he couldn't feel any chakra coming from that attack. That attack didn't hurt but it did throw him back with such force that it reminded him of one of Tsunade's more tame punches.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" Hari said with a smirk on his face. "Now why is the big bad snake in Konoha of all places, hmmm? Something caught your eye?"

"None of your business." answered Orochimaru, taking a good look at the intruder. "Ah, Mahora Hari. It warms my heart for Sarutobi-sensei to send someone of note after me, not that you stand a chance against me of course."

"Actually, he didn't send me. I was just closer considering my clan house is just beside the forest." said Hari before channeling a bit of his chakra and magic to his fingers, waiting for the right moment to attack. "Now why don't you be a good boy and slither home, snake. You're not wanted here."

"Ku ku ku. Playing the prince charming and saving the princess from the _evil man_. How quaint." Orochimaru mocked but he had to jump out of the way when Hari fired off a bolt of lightning that nearly hit him. "Impatient are we?"

"Let's just say that I have a beef with you and leave it at that." Hari informed him with a sadistic grin on his face. "Let's see you dodge this, _old man_."

Hari started firing bolts upon bolts of lightning at Orochimaru who was utilizing his speed to dodge out of the way, not giving the Sannin time to use any of the jutsus he heard about. He had to gape when the Snake Sannin bent at an unnatural angle just to swerve away from a bolt that came too near his face. If Voldemort had shinobi training then he would be that…flexible too.

Snarling, Orochimaru went through a series of seals before slamming his hand on the ground.

"_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**_

A large snake appeared with Orochimaru on top of his head, roughly a hundred meters in length, fangs dripping with purple venom.

"Oh no you don't." Hari said he bit his thumb and wiped it on the summoning tattoo on his wrist. _**"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Tombo the Hammer!"**_

Hari slammed his hand on the ground and released the technique. A puff of smoke later revealed a giant panda wearing a Sakat on its head and a purple robe. The 7-foot tall panda was holding an overly large war hammer.

"**Hari-san."** The panda greeted its summoner while eyeing the snake curiously.

"Sorry for bringing you out like this, Tombo-san, but do you think you could help me out and dispose of that snake for me?" asked Hari as he tilted his head towards the snake who was eyeing the large panda apprehensively, especially the overly large hammer it was carrying.

"**Not a problem, Hari-san."** said Tombo before twirling the gigantic hammer over his head and slammed it to the ground with enough force to cause a small earthquake, disorienting the snake. The panda swung the hammer swiftly which connected to the side of the snake's face causing it to sway in a daze. Orochimaru had the foresight to jump away before the hammer could hit so he got off unscathed.

Hari lunged at Orochimaru with both of his hands and feet coated in lightning, engaging the Sannin in a taijutsu fight.

Say what you will about the Snake Sannin but the man was powerful. He countered every single punch and kick without even touching the electrified appendage, avoiding potential electrocution. Hari had to grunt when the Sannin managed to hit him in the stomach, throwing him back.

Seeing that a close range fight wouldn't be to his advantage, Orochimaru brought out _Kusanagi_.

Hari saw the Snake Sannin open his mouth to bring out the famed sword. He stared in morbid fascination as a snake appeared from the Sannin's mouth and dislodged the sword from its mouth which the shinobi easily caught in his hands.

"I don't know if I should be fascinated or disturbed. That was nasty." Hari said with a shudder before eyeing the sword speculatively. "Since you wanted a sword fight then who am I to disappoint." With a grin, Hari raised his right hand and channeled a bit of chakra to his storage tattoo on his wrist. His new zanbatou made an appearance in all its glory. Orochimaru had to gape at the size of the thing. "Impressive isn't it?"

"Compensating for something?" Orochimaru scoffed as he eyed the pure black zanbatou his opponent was carrying. "There's no way you can use that thing. It's just too heavy…" any further comment was stopped when Hari twirled the large blade over his head as if it weighed nothing. He was about to make a comment regarding its seeming weightlessness when he had to pause again when Hari slammed the blade on a nearby boulder, shattering it to pieces. This left the Snake Sannin with a single thought _"That is no ordinary blade."_

"Like it? I want you to meet my weapon. Her name is _Black Death _and...you're about to get acquainted with each other." said Hari before gripping the sword with his right hand, threw it at Orochimaru with all of his strength.

Orochimaru eyed the incoming projectile and positioned _Kusanagi_ to parry, confident that his legendary sword would be up to the task in deflecting the deadly blade. He was successful in that regard when he made the blade fly to the side with a deft swing but it left his hand ringing from the force of the blow. He was astounded, however, when said sword seemed to materialized in Hari's hand which was again thrown at him. This time, he didn't bother to parry, he simply jumped out the way since he didn't think that his sword arm could take more of its strenght.

Hari was cackling like mad as he threw and summoned the blade over and over again. Keeping the Snake Sannin on his toes. He saw in his peripheral vision Tombo smashing the giant snake on the head causing a lot of brain matter to fly out in different directions before returning back to the summoning plane where he lived.

Orochimaru snarled since he couldn't get near enough to land a decisive hit. He crouched low on the ground to avoid the flying sword and opened his mouth for his next technique.

"_**Madara no Jin."**_

Thousands of snakes flew out of the Sannin's mouth to create a wall. Each snake opened its mouth to reveal a replica of _Kusanagi_ before all of them lunged towards Hari who was holding his blade in position for a horizontal swipe.

"_**Black Death, First Dance…Activate! Flight of the Swallow."**_ murmured Hari.

The jade on his zanbatou flared, covering the entirety of the blade in an eerie green light. He swung his sword horizontally releasing a crescent of magical energy and chakra which obliterated all the snake. Unfortunately for him, Orochimaru was already flying through seals when he saw the powerful attack heading his way. He slammed his hand on the ground to call on his most powerful defensive jutsu.

"_**Triple Rashomon!"**_

Three large walls with hideous faces appeared in front of the other. Hari's energy attack hit the first wall, obliterating it, same with the second wall. However, the attack dissipated when it hit the third wall though it left a noticeable crack in its face.

Hari saw his chance and fired another shot, emptying the jade of all its stored energy. This time, the third wall who survived the encounter was blown to pieces with Hari's energy projectile cleaving a few trees behind it before dissipating. Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, that was…anti-climactic." said Hari as he hefted the drained _Black Death_ over his shoulder as he surveyed the destruction he caused. He was about to check on Anko when he felt an incoming presence from behind him. He didn't have time to evade so he resorted to activating his ultimate defense.

"_**Dance of the Screaming Lightning!"**_

A cocoon of lightning surrounded him as he turned around just in time to see Orochimaru's head about to give him a nasty bite judging from the fangs it was sporting. The head hit the cocoon of highly-compressed lightning before it was burned to a crisp. The elongated neck, as well as Orochimaru's body which was standing a few meters away turned into mud and fell to the forest floor.

"What the bloody hell was that?" shouted Hari as he looked around to find the real Orochimaru. He kept his ultimate defense active since he didn't know where the snake was. He heard laughter coming from somewhere above him so he looked up to see Orochimaru looking down at him with a sneer on his face.

"Ku ku ku. What a _delightful_ technique you have there, Hari-san. Would you mind telling what it is?" said Orochimaru with a sneer. Inwardly he was scared as hell because of the various attacks the seemingly young shinobi used on him. First the rapid fire lightning bolt, then the boy had to combine his lightning with his taijutsu, summoning, unleashing an attack that obliterated his ultimate defense technique, and finally, a cocoon of lightning that protected him. What was this boy capable of?

"I think you already know that I won't be telling you anything, _snakey-poo."_ Hari snarked as he prepred to throw _Black Death_ at the Snake Sannin. Even if its power supply was depleted, he could still use the enchantments he placed on it without problem.

"I think I spent enough time here _playing_ with you, boy." Orochimaru snarled, finally losing his cool. "I will leave you for now but please do tell Sarutobi-sensei that there would be…dire consequences if he cancels the exam."

After delivering his warning, Orochimaru melted into the trunk of the tree and disappeared from sight. Hari sighed thankfully before replacing _Black Death_ back into its pocket dimension to recharge. He turned to tend to Anko to find out if the snake did some lasting damage on her.

* * *

"You met Orochimaru and didn't even bother to request for immediate reinforcement?" asked Sarutobi in a shrill voice. "I know you're crazy but I didn't think you were suicidal as well."

After checking up on Anko and fired a couple of healing spells on her to counteract the nerve damage that she suffered under the hands of the Snake Sannin, Hari _apparated_ to the hospital and dropped the unconscious Tokubetsu Jounin in the emergency ward and _apparated_ directly to the Hokage's office to give his report.

"Hey, it's not like I have any choice in the matter, Hokage-sama." Hari said defensively. "I heard from a Chuunin outside the gate in Training Ground 44 that Anko immediately went in to confront the problem. If I had been any sooner in my arrival then you're going to be one short of an interrogation specialist in the T and I department."

Sarutobi sighed as he rubbed his temple, trying to stem the headache that was forming after Hari gave his report. Confronting Orochimaru was one thing but fighting him to a standstill was another matter entirely. He knew that Hari's A-rank status in the Bingo Book was a farce since the man's real skill was bordering S-rank. It was somewhat believable that he fought Orochimaru evenly but if the Snake Sannin was prepared then the battle would have gone the opposite end with Hari losing with grave injuries.

"Fine." Sarutobi said with a sigh. "Let's just be thankful that you survived the encounter and leave it at that."

"Oi! I'm not that bad." Hari bristled. He really hated it when the old coot treated him like a child.

"I didn't say you were, Hari. It's just that my _former_ student have years of experience in the shinobi arts and he didn't earn his rank as S-class after a promotion. He is one of the most notorious criminal in the Elemental Nations so you fighting him to a standstill was pure luck on your end. If he was prepared for the fight then you wouldn't be saying that right now."

Hari sighed since the old leader was probably right. He might be good but he wasn't that good. He knew that experience played a big role in the shinobi world and Orochimaru had that in spades.

"Oh alright, I admit that I know that I'm outclassed when it comes to experience in shinobi battles but you have to admit that I did well during the fight." Hari mused before he chuckled as he remembered the numerous times he shocked the Snake Sannin with his skills. "It was funny though when he saw my techniques first hand. If I do face him again in the future then I'll be better prepared."

"I suggest you do. With the upcoming invasion, I'm sure that we won't be seeing the last of my wayward student." Sarutobi advised. "Now back to your request…why do you want to take a look at Anko's Cursed Seal?"

Hari shrugged.

"Just curious, that's all. I might be a wizard and a shinobi but my profession is in the medical arts. I'm just curious as to how that seal came to be and how it affected Anko like that." said Hari. The Hokage informed him all about the Cursed Seal that Orochimaru created. Not in detail since only the Snake Sannin knew of its intricacies but enough detail provided by Anko when she experienced its effects for the first time when it activated. "Besides, I find it fishy that such a seal amplifies a person's chakra without drawback. As far as I'm concerned, any enhancing techniques has its own disadvantages, more so with the Cursed Seal considering how Orochimaru was torturing Anko with it. I know that pain is just _one_ of the drawbacks. There's more if Orochimaru had anything to say about it."

"You're correct. Too bad we don't have that much information on the Cursed Seal except for what Anko told us after we found her when Orochimaru experimented on her. However, after the invasion, you have my permission to study it as you please as long as you ask Anko's permission first. From what I know, she is very…sensitive talking about that, much less letting you experiment with it."

"Don't worry, old man. I know how to handle Anko." Hari assured him. The best way to bribe Anko was through her stomach. As far as he knew, the Snake Bitch of the T and I Department loved the dango his elves make. It was a good bribe as any.

"Good. Now, did you rectify your mistakes in the map?" Sarutobi asked curiously. It wasn't really a mistake that Hari omitted Training Ground 44 into the schematics of the Marauder's Map since no one was stupid enough to invade the village through there. However, it was a good idea to make sure that all holes in the plan was plugged and Training Ground 44 was a _very_ big hole that needed to be plugged.

"Already done. I dispatched my elves before delivering Anko to the hospital. Considering the size of the place, it would take two days for my hardworking friends to get it mapped out." Hari said with a smile. He definitely loved house elf magic.

"Good. It _might_ be of use to the village considering that Orochimaru was there. Now, why don't you tell me about the message you got from your Genins? Iruka informed me that your team was the first to arrive safely in the tower though they couldn't be found anywhere after that."

Hari chuckled. His team was good considering that they succeeded in their objective on the first day. However, they weren't stickler for rules and if he was to guess, his team was currently relaxing inside the Mahora compound, waiting for the third part of the exam to start on the fifth day.

"Yeah I know. They should be in the compound right now, relaxing. There's no rule saying that they should stay in the tower. They're still eligible for the exam if they are present when the next phase of the second part of the exam commences." Hari pointed out causing Sarutobi to grudgingly nod in agreement. "Anyway, regarding Naruto's message, it would seem that Orochimaru is interested in Sasuke and we were able to determine from the message that the invasion would commence during the third part of the exam. This gives us an additional month to plan for it."

"I see." Sarutobi said with a frown on his face. "We can work around that and thanks to your student's message, we now have a timetable to work with. I wonder why he is interested in Sasuke though considering the boy is nowhere near as talented as Itachi was. Anyway, I already sent a message to Jiraiya to return to Konoha to bolster the ranks."

"Oh?" Hari asked curiously. Jiraiya was coming back? It was an interesting turn of events. "Why call the old pervert back considering that he is manning his spy network for the village?"

"He is needed." replied Sarutobi. "With Orochimaru spearheading the invasion, we need another Sannin to even the score. I wish Tsunade was here since her help in the hospital would be a boon to us but it couldn't be helped since she promised never to set foot in the village again. Anyway, with Jiraiya here, his skills will bolster the rank and give us an advantage just in case Suna decided to unleash their jinchuuriki at us."

"Ah, Gaara." Hari nodded, clearly remembering the volatile container of the Ichibi. "What advantage are we talking about?"

"If the bijuu is released then we need Jiraiya's, Naruto's, and your boss summons to put down the threat." Sarutobi answered making Hari realize the old monkey's plan.

"Since you put it that way then it is a good idea to have the old toad back with us." Hari agreed with the plan. The Ichibi was a bloodthirsty monster and it was better to have _three_ boss summons to keep it down before it could decimate the village with its rampage. "Anyway, are we done here? I have things to do back in the compound for the upcoming invasion."

"That's all. You're dismissed, Hari."

Hari gave a salute before _apparating_ out of the office leaving a pensive Hokage behind.

* * *

Hari was interrupted from his brewing when an elf popped in holding a letter in his tiny hands.

"Master Harry Potter, sir. Dibbles be bringing a letter from your Wheezies back at home." said Dibbles while offering the letter to Hari who immediately took it.

"Thanks, Dibs." said Hari with a smile down at the elf who returned it before popping out of the room. The smile turned to a frown as he stared at the letter in his hands. It has been a year since the twins sent him a message and for it to arrive with such a gap meant that there was something wrong.

Sighing, he placed a Stasis Charm on the _Veritaserum_ he was brewing for the T and I Department upon Ibiki's request. With the upcoming invasion, it was likely that they would need all the truth potion they could get their hands on to interrogate the prisoners. If they were alive, that is.

Hari walked back to his study in the main house, dutifully ignoring his team sparring in the training ground. It has been a day since they came back from the second part of the exam and the trio spent all their time training to make sure they were in shape. It was a good idea too considering the next phase of the exam.

When he got there, he immediately sat on his high-back chair and opened the letter from the twins.

_Harry-kins,_

_Sorry it's been quite a while since we sent you a letter but things have been hectic around here. _

_For starters, there's no change regarding your status as a 'Dark Lord' here in Wizarding Britain and the Ministry is getting their jollies in a twist because they can't find a hide or hair of you for years. Wherever you are, they can't find you even through magical means. Good show there, old chap!_

_Anyway, there is a new Dark Lord in town and has been decimating the populace as of late. He is not in the scale of Voldemort but he is getting there considering that he has the entire pureblood at his beck and call. _

_Oh yeah, this newbie idiot is calling himself Lord of Darkness. No name, just a title. Over dramatic, wot?_

_Unlike Voldemort though, the new Dark Tosser's minions are targeting purebloods, especially from the Light families and neutral families that wouldn't side with him. As it stands, the Longbottoms (Neville and Susan got married last year), Greengrass, Davis, and Zabinis (Blaise and Hannah got married, shocking isn't it?) are in total lockdown, cutting themselves off from the world. _

_The Weasleys are in hiding too which is the reason why we haven't sent you a letter. How your elf found us, we don't know. Tricky little bugger if you ask us. He just popped in around midnight and scared us silly, asking if we want to give you a letter. I think that elf of yours is a Seer considering that we were thinking of contacting you as soon as we would be able to. _

_To cut the long story short, we need your help mate. The Ministry isn't doing anything and the rest of the Wizarding World is closing their borders on Britain. We are on our own on this one. This time, we don't have a Harry Potter or an Albus Dumbledore to bail us out. _

_Please send us a reply soon. _

_The New Marauders,_

_Fred and George_

_P.S.: Charlie and Bill sent their regards. You might want to get in touch with Andromeda since she is looking for you. _

_P.P.S: We got some new products for you to try out. Send us an elf to pick up your __**care package**__._

_P.P.P.S: The DA is gathering again to counter the threat but without anyone holding us together, we aren't getting anywhere. _

Hari frowned after reading the letter. Trust the incompetent Ministry to bungle up their job in preventing another Dark Lord from rising. He didn't want to go back to bail everyone out since it was their job in the first place.

No, Harry Potter was done with Wizarding Britain and if they want to get rid of this _new_ threat then they had to do it on their own.

However, Hari didn't want to leave his friends to the mercy of this…_Lord of Darkness,_ and considering that he wasn't around, he didn't know this one's threat level. If he wanted to know what this new threat was capable of then he needed to go back to his old dimension.

He pulled out a pen and paper from his desk drawer and started penning his letter. He would send it off with Dibbles later in the evening and return with the package that Fred and George promised him. New threat aside, he was so looking forward what the twins cooked up this time.

* * *

Fred and George were currently inside their lab experimenting on a new prank product they thought up a week ago. It was far from being completed but the results of their experiments were looking good. The prankster duo was brought out of their seriousness when a pop echoed around the room. They both looked behind them in unison to see Dibbles holding a letter from Harry.

Excited at what their financer was up to, they immediately took the letter from the elf and told the little guy to wait for the care package to be sent back to his master. After that, they immediately put their heads together, literally, and started reading what Harry has to say.

_Gred and Forge,_

_You guys have a lot of explaining to do. It had taken you guys a year to send me a letter and I was worried the whole time. _

_Regarding this new Dark Lord threat, I can't come since I'm in the middle of something. Hopefully I can visit you guys in a month's time. We will talk when I get there. _

_I'm not sure yet if I'm going to lend a hand with the problem but we shall see. If the DA's meet again, tell them to start brushing up on offensive spells. That should help out a bit. _

_Anyway, looking forward to your care package. _

_Toodles!_

_Harry_

The twins finished reading the letter before looking at each other. They couldn't fault Harry for not wanting to help out with their current Dark Lord problem since a majority of the wizarding worlds turned their backs on him after offing Voldemort. In fact, Harry was quite justified in doing so. However, their hopes were raised when Harry mentioned the DA. They knew Harry quite well enough to know that their leader wouldn't suggest something if he didn't plan to see it through. If Harry does come, which they believe was a big possibility then the new Dark Lord was screwed

Grinning, the twins put down the letter and started adding more items into the care package. It had been 3 years after all so the Son of Prongs definitely needs to stock up on prank supplies. Their insane cackling caused Dibbles to shake his head in exasperation.

* * *

**End of Chapter 16. **

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 17: Don't Mock The Clan, Idiots!**

* * *

Hari gave out a tired yawn as he exited his workshop. Today was the start of the elimination round to determine who would be part of the final phase of the exam in a month's time. Instead of relaxing, the five days of reprieve was filled with events that include fun, work, planning for the coming invasion, experimenting.

When he found his team enjoying the comfort of the compound, during the first day of the second phase no less (he wasn't surprised that his team made it to the tower in 3 hours without problems), he immediately ushered Kenji towards the ritual chamber below the mansion and blood-adopted him into the clan.

Like Sano, Kenji became a squib and gained the characteristics that all Mahora share – eyes a darker shade of green, increased chakra reserves, improved physical abilities, and the likes. His magical reserves was similar to Sano's since he didn't really have magic to begin with.

Of course, the party the followed after the ritual was quite rowdy, especially from Haku and Naruto who both dreamed of having Kenji as a brother. They definitely got their wish and they partied the whole night away much to Sano's and the elves' amusement.

The next day, he gave Kenji a complete medical check-up to ensure that nothing was wrong with the ritual and thankfully, the adoption was perfect. Since they were still in the exam (despite being finished on the first day and four days of rest before the next phase begins), he didn't teach them anything but suggested that they train, just in case.

In the case of Kenji, Hari instructed the boy to experiment with the increase of his abilities so he wouldn't have any problems with it during the exams. Considering the boy was now a Mahora by blood, he pointed the boy to their clan's Mahora Family Scroll to learn the techniques and come up with some of his own, as well as full access to the library – which includes the magical side – to jumpstart his education of both magic and _mahoujutsu_. The smile on Kenji's face brightened Hari's day if nothing else.

While the rest of his team were doing what they do best (training and getting stronger), he decided to give Kenji an edge in the exam. He knew that it was cheating but he didn't care since survival was the name of the game. Besides he wouldn't be much of a clan head if he didn't watch out for his subordinates, right?

Hari studied Kenji's tantos and was surprised to find out that both were made from high-quality chakra metal so it was easy to upgrade the weapons similar to what he did to his zanbatou.

After interviewing the lad, he found out that he practically worked his ass off doing D-rank missions for a year to afford them. He had to go hungry a few times just to save enough to pay for the installment alone. Hari also found out that it was Setsuna who made the tantos so the quality was definitely up to scratch.

Thanks to its make, Hari was able to do the same process on Kenji's tantos similar to his Black Death. He alchemized it into Orihalcon and installed a jade on the hilt of each blade. Kenji had to take a break from his training to spend the day charging the two which almost put him down due to exhaustion. Thankfully, the elves were there to nurse him back to health.

On the fourth day, Hari finalized all the plans concerning the coming invasion. He coordinated with Shikaku and used the new prank items the Weasley Twins sent him to better use. As it stood, they were able to determine potential areas where the invaders would likely hit to weaken Konoha. Those places were now fully loaded with traps that would make any Gryffindor blanch in fear. The cackles he was giving off while installing the pranks scared the ANBUs guarding the area and swore to avoid the hotspots during the invasion for the sake of their sanity.

When the pranks were placed in their respective areas, he adjourned to his laboratory to finish his upgrade of Black Death since he needed an edge just in case he and Orochimaru had their second round. He added two more jades into his zanbatou to solve the power use and something else that would give the Snake Senning a run for his money.

From what he observed from his battle with Orochimaru, one jade had enough energy for two consecutive shots of his sword's first ability at full power. That was a problem right there.

To counter this, he added two fully-charged jades into Black Death before tweaking the runes to better its performance.

First, he added a Control Rune so he could control how much power would be used for his techniques with Black Death. This way, he could now determine the output to pull out more shots without running out in the middle of a battle.

Second, he added an Absorption Seal he learned from one of the Fuuinjutsu scrolls the Hokage lent him. The seal, unlike runes, were geared towards the absorption of ambient chakra in the surrounding area. The more chakra there was, the faster the recharge time would be. Of course, the seal absorbs chakra and not magic, so he had to add a Converter Rune outside the seal to turn it into magical energy. The Converter Rune was one of the many results of his study of both chakra and magic. It wasn't full proof as of yet since the conversion was slow but it was a start.

With the additional two batteries added into its matrix and a bit of tinkering on his end, it worked like a charm. He couldn't find a way to spam his sword techniques but the decrease in recharge time was a blessing.

Since he wasn't hungry and quite excited to see the match, he apparated directly into the observer's deck of the small arena inside the lone tower in the middle of Training Ground 44; he saw that every single one of the Jounin senseis were there to observe their respective teams; well, those whose team that survived the forest anyway.

He looked down to see his team lined up for everyone to see. The way they carried themselves made Hari puff out his chest in pride. Each of them wore different expressions which Hari immediately recognized.

As usual, Naruto, was grinning like a loon and there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes making Hari smirk. The blonde was always itching for a fight but couldn't do so at full strength to avoid hurting Kenji and Haku even if the two of them kept telling him that he could go all out if he wanted to (they weren't worried about getting hurt since they had plenty of healing potions in stock and the elves were more than happy to nurse them back to health if that ever happened).

Naruto was clearly a glutton for punishment which he _might_ have gotten thanks to his training and the blonde's many spars with Sano (Hari and Sano didn't know the meaning of holding back their strength). It was quite obvious that Naruto was looking forward to a good fight in this phase of the exam since he would be paired off with someone outside the clan, or so he hoped, considering that the matches were selected at random.

Also, it was quite obvious why Naruto was excited for the upcoming fight. He was going to be fighting at full strength, though not showing ALL of his techniques, since this was a competition. It would be stupid to hold back considering shinobi battles were tricky business with only one rule – Kill or Be Killed.

Hari was also looking forward to Naruto's fight since the blond wasn't idle with the four-day reprieve before the preliminaries. He knew that Naruto trained his Wind Chakra extensively with his clones to gain a mastery over it. He remembered the surge of chakra the blonde emitted yesterday and couldn't help but chuckle. Hari knew that Naruto finally mastered his version of the Mahora Elemental Dance and he couldn't help but be excited to see it since the blonde didn't bring it up or show it to the clan.

Haku's face, however, was as cold as his Hyoton bloodline. Nothing was different with the teen but the large scroll on the boy's back made him curious. He clearly remembered Haku asking his permission over something during the party but he was too drunk to really pay attention (he and Sano had a drinking contest that time to see who would get drunk first). He didn't know what it was but his alcohol-addled brain at that time remembered that he said 'yes' for something that he couldn't quite remember. Whatever it was, the scroll behind the boy was going to be quite a surprise.

Kenji was beaming if his smile was anything to go by. Proudly displayed on his back were the two tantos Hari upgraded. They were no longer the average-looking swords you can buy in a shinobi shop, but turned into works of art that would make any weapon collector drool.

Seeing that there weren't any seats available, he created his own to the shock of those who saw a chair materialize out of nowhere. Aside from HOW it appeared, the chair was similar to those used by Daimyos and his court. Hari sat himself amidst the stares and snapped his fingers causing a Butterbeer to materialize out of thin air. He didn't use any magic but the snap was a signal to one of his elves to provide him with his favorite beverage. The execution definitely made him look like a ham but he didn't care.

"Oi, Hari, why don't you share your comforts with us."

Hari turned to his left to see Kakashi and Asuma walking towards him. Kurenai was also with them though she was hanging back a bit, trying to stay out of range from the young Sarutobi's smoke belching.

"Yo, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai." Hari greeted the trio before giving the one-eyed Jounin a look. "If I didn't know any better, you're getting lazier, you white-haired pervert."

"Correction, its silver-haired pervert, not white." Kakashi said with a grin, an act that was quite visible through his face mask. "Nah, just want to feel some comforts now and then. So…" he trailed off suggestively, he twirled a finger in mid-air, a very clear sign.

Hari sighed before conjuring three more chairs similar to his own. The trio thanked him before settling down on their own seats, sighing in happiness at the comfort they were feeling while ignoring the jealous looks aimed at them by the rest of the shinobi in attendance. For good measure, Hari snapped his fingers one more time causing three bottles to appear and float in front of the trio who eyed it with trepidation.

"That's just a beverage back in my old world. Give it a try. Guaranteed to be delicious and will perk you right up." Hari informed them before taking a sip of his own drink. The trio nodded before grabbing theirs and took a tentative sip. Their eyes showed surprise at the taste before taking a longer draw.

"This is really good. What do you call this, Hari?" Asuma asked Hari who was looking at how Kakashi was drinking. It would seem that there was a slit in that mask of his that allowed him to drink without removing it. Ingenious.

"That's Butterbeer. It has slight alcohol added to the mix and can be quite addictive if taken in large amounts at one time. It won't make you drunk that too much would make you tipsy until you throw up. They don't sell it here in Konoha but I'm thinking of introducing it here in Konoha to sell. Who knows, it might be a good business venture on my end." Hari mused while eyeing the bottle in hand with a thoughtful frown.

"You don't need any more money considering that you're practically the richest clan head in Konoha." Asuma scoffed earning him a glare from the Mahora clan head.

"He is?" Kurenai asked with some surprise. This was new to her. He knew of the famed Mahora Hari, of course, but most of his knowledge of the man involved his shinobi portfolio, nothing in the personal sense.

"Oh yes, Hari here is quite rich according to dad. In fact, Hari almost gave the old monkey a heart attack after he cashed in the gold he brought back from his previous home." Asuma answered her with a grin. "If I remember correctly, he still has a few of those gold bars of his tucked somewhere in his home. Isn't that right, Hari?"

Hari grunted, not liking the fact that Asuma was practically broadcasting to everyone within hearing range that he was loaded. Sure, it was public information that he was rich but he didn't have to come right out and say it. Also, he wasn't worried about getting robbed since the wards would take care of any thief stupid enough to attempt it.

"Har har, Asuma. You're just mad that I didn't give you that loan you were asking for. Really, why do you need to buy your own house when the Sarutobi clan has a mansion?" Hari asked rhetorically.

"Call it a plan for the future." Asuma answered sagely while giving Kurenai a look that spoke volumes. The Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha blushed at what the man was pointing at.

"Fine." Hari said with a grunt before giving Kurenai a look. "Really, Kurenai, why choose Asuma of all people? I thought you had better tastes in men. Surely you can find someone better."

"Oi!" Asuma reacted without thinking before getting smacked on the head by the kunoichi.

"Oh, I could pick someone better but this big brute got to me. However, I'll keep your words under advisement if this lug of lard here doesn't shape up to my standards." Kurenai said with a grin which was mimicked by Hari, both were giving the incredulous Asuma a look.

"What is it today? Pick on Asuma Day?" Asuma said with a glare. He tried to light his cigarette but found said stick gone from his lips. He looked up to see Hari holding said stick in between his fingers.

"No smoking for you today, Asuma. I don't want to get lung cancer because you want to indulge in one of your vices." Hari said with a smirk before casting a mild flame charm, burning the cigarette to ash. He looked at the arena below. "I see that all of our teams passed, huh? Kakashi, why is the Uchiha wincing and rubbing his neck?"

Kakashi's face turned grim at the question which the three Jounin noticed immediately.

"Orochimaru did something to him back in the forest. Sakura and Sai couldn't tell me much since they were unconscious but they told me that a Kusa Genin attacked them. It turns out that the attacker was none other than Orochimaru." Kakashi informed them.

The events finally clicked in Hari's mind, finally seeing the whole picture as to why snake-faced bugger was targeting the Uchiha.

"This is not good. Don't tell me that Orochi-pedo gave Sasuke…" Hari trailed off but it was confirmed when Kakashi nodded. "Definitely not good. Are you sure he should be down there Kakashi? From what I know of the…hickey, it has the ability to bring out the darkness in a person. Considering this is Sasuke we're talking about, I think you already have an idea how dark the boy is considering his past."

"What in the world are you two talking about?" asked Kurenai, confused about the whole thing.

Hari looked at Kurenai in the eye. "What he gave to Anko before he turned rogue." He answered cryptically though he knew that the Genjutsu Mistress would understand since she and Anko were best friends.

Kurenai's eyes widen in understanding before rounding on Kakashi who was looking at Sasuke with intensity.

"You need to get him out of there, Kakashi. With the seal in place, who knows what would happen." Kurenai whispered urgently.

"No need to worry, Kurenai, Hari. I already informed Sasuke not to use any skills that require chakra. If there is no chakra involved then the seal won't activate. This means that his Sharingan is off-limits until I put a limiter seal on that thing" Kakashi assured the two. However, Hari was doubtful over the man's claims.

"By limiter, you mean the Evil Suppressing Seal?" Hari asked, getting a nod from the one-eyed Jounin. "I don't have your faith in your Genin, Kakashi. We all know for a fact that Sasuke is power hungry and you telling him NOT to use chakra might not sit well with the brat. " Hari mused with a frown on his face before brightening at an idea. "Tell you what, after the preliminaries; I want you to bring Sasuke to my office at the Hospital. Since I can't study Anko's Cursed Seal, maybe I can check out the one on Sasuke. Who knows, I might find a way to safely remove it given time and study."

This surprised Kakashi, as well as Kurenai and Asuma. They knew of the Cursed Seal through their interaction with Anko and not even Jiraiya could remove it even with his status as a Seal Master. Now Hari was stating that there was a possibility of its removal.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked hopefully. He might not liked how Sasuke turned out but he was still his student.

Hari shrugged before explaining it to the three Jounins.

"Seals are like the Runes in my world. It can be removed once you find the right sequence. Ever since I made Konoha my home, I studied Fuuinjutsu extensively and did a comparative with Runes used in my world. At the most part, both are similar in terms of application and effects. From what the Hokage told me, the Cursed Seal is a combination of seals and some enzymes that Orochi-pedo came up in one of his experiments. If I can study it down to its roots then it's quite possible that I can find a way to counter its effect, making it safe to use or remove it permanently. I can't promise anything unless I study it in real."

"That's good enough I supposed." Kakashi said with a nod. "When are you available?"

"Hm," Hari scratched his chin. "Why don't you bring him to my office at the hospital tomorrow morning? Don't tell him why though. From what I know of Sasuke, he wouldn't like the fact that you're hindering him from gaining more power, even if he got it from a rogue, like Orochimaru.

"Point." Kakashi agreed. "What time?"

"Around 10 would be fine. I hate waking up early." Hari replied immediately. He knew that there's going to be a big party tonight so he needed all the sleep he could get if he needed to be fresh and ready for his study of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal.

"Gotcha." Kakashi said with a nod.

"It's a date then." Hari said cheekily before noticing the signs on the billboard already moving. It stopped at two names – Uchiha Sasuke and Akadou Yoroi. "Well, what do you know, you're student is already up, Kakashi. We'll see if your faith in him is well deserved."

Kakashi didn't grace that with a reply but merely grunted as he eyed Sasuke, tense at the possibility of the seal activating during the match. If that did happen then he would do anything in his power to get Sasuke out and contain the Cursed Seal as best as he could before Hari could take a look at it.

* * *

"Now that's an interesting ability." Haku mused as he watched Akadou Yoroi having a solid grip on Sasuke's head, his hands with chakra. Thanks to his medical studies and being a sensor, he could easily see what the shinobi was doing to the young Uchiha.

"All I see is chakra covering his hands." Kenji noted, inwardly cackling at the beat down. Naruto nodded in agreement since his limited sensing abilities told him the same.

"True, Akadou Yoroi is merely using chakra but I was able to determine that he is actually absorbing Sasuke's chakra." Haku explained, his eyes never leaving the battle below. "He is actually using his chakra as a magnet, attracting Sasuke's chakra and absorbing it through his hands. Quite a useful ability to have for a ninjutsu specialist."

"You mean to say that the boy is a chakra leech?" Naruto asked in disbelief. Thanks to his studies, he had a thorough understanding of all the bloodlines in Konoha. However, he didn't read anything on a bloodline that absorbs chakra. He knew that it wasn't an acquired skill since it was impossible to steal chakra unless you were genetically predisposed to do so. From Haku's explanation, it was very possible for Akadou Yoroi to possess that bloodline if he was doing it.

"Yes." Haku said with a nod before wincing at the amount of chakra the Uchiha had in his body before he was able to get out of the hold. "Sasuke has less than an eight of his chakra left. Any lower than that then he's going to slip into a healing coma. Not to mention the fact that there's something wrong in his chakra pathways that's not normal and whatever it is that's doing it is centered on his neck."

"Something wrong with Sasuke?" Naruto asked, curious and surprised at the same time.

"From what I could tell, Sasuke now had two different chakras floating inside his coils and both are from different sources. One is his own, obviously, but the other one is stronger and more…malicious and that one is coming from his neck." Haku reported, his eyes never leaving the Uchiha as he tried to evade Yoroi's glowing hands.

"Do you think that it has something to do with Orochimaru's interest in him?" whispered Kenji since he didn't want to broadcast the fact that they knew some of the Snake Summoner's plans. It was quite possible that the snake would have an accomplice to keep an eye on things in the Leaf so it's better to keep a low profile, for now.

"I'm not sure but we need to tell sensei about this as soon as possible." Haku said immediately before a frown made its way to his face. He saw the Uchiha execute a move that he was familiar with. "He stole that move! The nerve of him!"

Naruto was surprised at Haku's outburst. He was watching the fight during Haku's commentary on Sasuke's chakra and couldn't help but admire the Rookie of the Year's tenacity. The quick move he performed was flawless and it opened up Akadou's guard for the follow-up. He was confused though since he was not familiar with the taijutsu technique called 'Lion's Barrage'.

"What are you talking about, Haku?" Naruto asked as the proctor announced Sasuke as the winner before Kakashi dragged the kid out of the arena.

"The move Sasuke performed to launch his opponent into the air was from the Shadow Leaf Dance. There are only two known practitioners of that and that's our fellow Genin, Rock Lee, and his sensei, Maito Gai – both master and apprentice of the Gokken, the Iron Fist Style. It's obvious that Sasuke copied it with his Sharingan since we heard that there was a confrontation between him and Rock Lee before the exam. The last part of the combo was an original since I don't think Sasuke was able to copy the next part of that move, the Lotus."

Naruto nodded with a frown on his face. He was a believer of hard work and power should be earned through sweat, blood, tears, and training. Stealing a technique from a comrade without permission was an affront to the Leaf's ideology.

"He must have copied it with his Sharingan then. That is more than enough reason for us to be careful with our techniques when the idiot is around." Kenji fumed. He didn't want his hard-earned skills to be stolen like that. Thankfully, Sasuke's sensei took him out of the arena so he didn't have to hide his skills when his fight comes up.

"Well, you're up next, Kenji." Naruto said with a grin when the next contenders were displayed on the board.

**:: Mahora Kenji versus Shinobu Akira ::**

"Aw man." Kenji whined when he saw the names on the board. "Why does it have to be him of all people."

"You know him?" Naruto asked, confused by his teammate-slash-brother's reaction to his opponent.

"Shinobu Akira…he's a fellow Kenjutsu practitioner of Team 13. We graduated together back in the Academy. He's the loudmouth of all loudmouths and a bully to the highest caliber. As you can see, he wields a zanbatou, like sensei, and he likes to mock me considering my tantos are small."

"Well, size doesn't mean everything, Kenji. You of all people should know that." Haku said with a smile before a sadistic grin made its way to his face that scared Kenji and Naruto since it looked so similar to their sensei. "Why don't you show him that you're no longer the old Kenji he picked on? Show him what a member of the Mahora Clan is truly capable of and bring him down a peg or two. On second though…bring him down HARD."

Kenji's grin became even more sadistic than Haku's if that was possible. Naruto could help but palm his face.

He briefly wondered if his sensei's sadism was contagious.

* * *

Kenji's opponent immediately started his tirade upon their arrival at the arena.

"Still using those cheap toys, Kenji-baka?" Akira taunted though he was inwardly worried at the change he could see in his former classmate. Gone was the somewhat timid Kenji he picked on back at the Academy. In fact, this Kenji had an invisible air around him that made his hairs stand on end. Also, the two tantos on his back were pure black and looked twice as deadly as his old one.

"Blah blah blah, Shinobu. You're still as loudmouthed as ever. Why don't you shut up and let's get this show on the road. I have much better things to do than exchange words with a brute." Kenji said with a bored air which infuriated Akira who immediately took off the zanbatou strapped on his back and taking on his fighting stance, zanbatou in one hand in front of his body, feet apart for strength and balance. It was a basic stance for zanbatou users to spread their weight all throughout their body for sudden attacks.

Kenji wasn't even intimidated at the sight of the huge sword or the competent stance his opponent was in. Compared to Hari-sensei and Sano's, Akira's blade was a pipsqueak in terms of power and ability. Seeing that this was going to be a sword fight, Kenji pulled out his Twin Terrors, his newly named blades when his new clan head was finally done with the upgrade. The black blades were beautiful and quite powerful in the right hands…Kenji's hands.

Hayate immediately started the fight with a shout of "Hajime!" and immediately jumped back to avoid the bloodbath that was going to follow. Also, he wanted to get into a good vantage point to see how Hari's Genin would fare in a duel of swords.

Kenji was somewhat surprised when Akira dashed forward at Chuunin-level speeds before doing an overhand slash with his zanbatou. Not wanting to back down from the challenge, he raised his swords in an X pattern over his hand and caught the slash. Thanks to his training and the sadism of his sensei-now-clan-head, the strength of the blow barely strained his muscles.

"You've grown stronger, Shinobu, though I would have to ask if this is the best you can do" Kenji quipped in a bored voice, using taunts to goad the boy into doing something reckless. From what Hari taught him, focus was important in a battle of swords. If you lose your focus then you were good as dead.

"I'm not done with you yet, Sato." Akira growled before taking advantage of the dead lock to kick at Kenji's midsection. However, the kick was parried by one of Kenji's own making Akira look at him in disbelief. This move ALWAYS worked on the loser. What in the world was going on?

He didn't get to ponder on that for long since Kenji burst into action. Channeling chakra to his arms to augment his strength, he ended the stalemate by pushing the large sword with his own. Akira was caught by surprise at the sudden pace of the battle but couldn't do anything about it since Kenji was already on him, jumping forward and rained rapid kicks on Akira's chest before channeling chakra to his legs for the last kick that threw the boy back a couple of feet in pain and out of breath.

"Correction, Akira. I'm no longer a Sato. I'm now Mahora Kenji, the new member of the Mahora Clan." Kenji informed his opponent. What he heard next made his blood boil and caused the match to end a bit longer than intended. He was planning to knock the boy out with a swift attack but the words from Akira's mouth required total pain and humiliation. Kenji's pride and love for his new family demanding nothing less.

"So what if a stupid, weak-ass clan adopted you? You were a pipsqueak then, so you're still a pipsqueak now." Akira mocked before a wave of killing intent froze him in his tracks.

* * *

"Oh dear. He shouldn't have said that." Hari said smirk..

"Why is that?" Kurenai asked immediately when she noted the killing intent Kenji was emitting from his side of the arena.

"As you all know, Kenji was an orphan and grew up alone. When I adopted him, he was so happy to be part of the family which was reinforced when we treated him as such. What Akira did was insult Kenji's love for his family, my family, the Mahora Clan." Hari explained calmly, expecting his new charge to kick the idiot to Suna for his mockery.

"So?" Asuma asked, confused.

"So, he is going to learn that you don't mock the Mahora Clan." Hari declared with a gleam in his eyes that made the three Jounin shudder. "And not come out unscathed."

* * *

"I was planning to take it easy on you before, Shinobu, but since you mocked my clan, I'm going to show you pain that you never felt before. You should be honored since you're the first to see the style I created two days ago." said Kenji coldly as he slightly raised the blades on his sides, their point diagonally pointing to the floor. _**"Mahora Twin Sword Technique: First Style: Whips!"**_

Bright green chakra and magical energy flared around the blade before it lengthened until it pooled down on the floor, making its exact length at 15 feet each. Seeing that his energy whips were fully out, Kenji whipped one of the blades and snapped it to the side causing a large gash to appear on the floor. Those who saw it gulped in fear.

"Now, let me show you what a Mahora Clan member can really do." Kenji growled before he started his deadly dance. He lashed out with the right blade that resulted in the chakra whip wrapping around the blade of Akira's zanbatou, and with a jerk, it was yanked out of the boy's grip and flew to the air. Kenji cracked his left blade and the chakra whip sliced the sword in two as if it was nothing.

He didn't stop there, limiting the power in his chakra whips to avoid killing the idiot, Kenji disappeared and started a dance that involved him moving around his opponent like a ghost, leaving after images in his wake, his hands in constant motion making the whips appear as green blurs.

Those in the stands couldn't help but gape when whip marks and slash wounds appeared on Akira's arms and skin as his clothes were shredded to pieces; the boy's scream scared everyone silly. It was five minutes later that Akira slumped to the ground, unconscious, naked, bleeding, and bruised to an inch of his life.

Kenji was a bit winded as he appeared a few feet away from his fallen opponent, a sadistic grin on his face as he made his whips disappear, leaving only two gleaming black blades in his hands. This was his first time to combine his invisibility technique and speed, making him flicker in and out of existence as if he was leaving after images. The move required total focus on his part and he learned from his beat down of Akira that he still had a long way to go before it was mastered.

"Winner by knockout! Mahora Kenji!" Hayate announced as a team of medic came in to bring Akira to the hospital wing somewhere in the tower to be treated.

"Don't mock the Mahora Clan. It may be the last thing you ever do if you did." Kenji said before using _Shunshin_ to exit the area and appear before his teammates who was patting him on the back for a job well done.

The message was quite clear that made everyone gulp.

Never mock the Mahora Clan. It would be a painful experience if you did.

* * *

**End of Chapter 17**

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 18: Beware! The Rabbit!**

* * *

Naruto was bored. The preliminaries weren't what he thought it would be. Sure, his interest was piqued when Kenji unveiled his newly upgraded tantos and the technique he created for the. He didn't doubt his fellow clan member since he knew that Kenji was stronger thanks to their daily training and spars. Also, Kenji was as hardworking as he was in terms of improving his skills as a shinobi so him getting stronger was not really an issue.

However, his interest went to an all time low after witnessing some of the fights down in the arena.

He couldn't believe that his fellow Genins weren't up to par. If Hari didn't take him under his tutelage then he would have been the same as them, limited to what their respective senseis taught them without really putting them in the grinder.

Some showed interested abilities that piqued his interest, but other than that, he was bored the whole time as he waited for his turn to come up.

Aburame Shino wasn't even winded when he faced Zaku of the Sound Team. Naruto was somewhat surprised that the injured boy was able to pass the Second Phase of the exam considering how beat up he was along with his teammate. But they did and he respected that.

However, that all ended when Shino demonstrated that there were more to his bugs than emptying their target's chakra and as spies. They were good for plugging holes as well, which was how Zaku found out first hand when his technique backfired after Shino plugged up the hole in the boy's arm with some of his bugs. The result was definitely bloody.

Zaku wouldn't be using his hands anytime soon without intensive treatment.

Sakura and Ino's fight looked more like a brawl than a shinobi battle. They didn't show anything other than basic moves and techniques. Ino made things interesting through the use of her clan's Mind Transfer technique to invade Sakura's mind and control her body. Naruto didn't know how Sakura did it but she was able to break out of the Yamanaka's hold and ended the fight with a double knockout to them both. All in all, those two gave kunoichis a very bad name.

He chuckled when Choji was paired off with a Genin from Amegakure. Sure, the Akimichi's techniques were destructive but the Ame Genin merely let the boy tire himself out before raining down senbons that knocked the Chouji out of the competition.

The enigmatic Sabaku no Gaara was paired with Dosu of the Sound Team. The fight didn't last long. The Suna Genin merely enveloped the guy in sand and crushed him like a can of tuna. The fight didn't even last a whole minute.

Naruto had to palm his face at Shikamaru though. The guy was a total genius in terms of strategy but the lack of physical training limited the young Nara in terms of one-on-one combat. Naruto knew that if the Nara had the physical skills to back him up then he would be able to execute a better strategy to bring his opponents down quick and painless. Anyway, Shikamaru won by using his shadows to catch Kin and smacked her head into a wall, knocking her out.

Naruto was about to sigh in boredom when the billboard showed the next fight.

**:: Mahora Haku VS Inuzuka Kiba ::**

"It's your turn, Haku." Naruto quipped excitedly, wanting to see his teammate wreak havoc in his own unique way.

"So it is." Haku said with a nasty smirk as he adjusted the large scroll on his back. Naruto looked at the thing with a bit of trepidation.

"I can't _believe_ sensei allowed you to go ahead with your request. He was definitely out of his mind when you asked him." Kenji noted as he eyed the large scroll on Haku's back the same way Naruto did.

"You're both just jealous because Hari-sama allowed it." Haku said with a smug grin, surreptitiously ignoring Kenji's "He was dead drunk when you asked." before snapping his fingers causing a mirror of ice to materialize in front of him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an Inzuka to clobber. Tah!"

With that, Haku walked into the mirror before it broke down into smaller pieces that turned into puddles on water on the floor. Naruto and Kenji noticed the same mirror materialize in the middle of the arena just beside the proctor who looked quite surprised when Haku stepped out of it without a care in the world.

"I didn't know he could do that." Kenji said, impressed at his surrogate brother's unique form of transportation. He wasn't surprised that the jutsus Haku made defied a lot of rules in the shinobi world. After all, Magic and Chakra could make the impossible possible with the right application. Haku was definitely a genius in that regard. Even Hari admitted it and praised Haku for his contribution in the creation and theories of many clan techniques that was now safely stored inside their clan's version of the Forbidden Scroll. He turned to Naruto with a questioning look. "Can you do that?"

"Nuh uh." Naruto shook his head in negative. "Considering that I'm a …what do you call it again…oh yeah, Squib, like you and Sano, I don't think I have enough magic in my system to do that no matter how much I wanted to."

Kenji nodded in agreement. Unlike Haku who already had magic before being adopted by Hari; He, Naruto, and Sano didn't have gift of magic to do things that Haku could do."Too true. Besides, with the amount of magic we have in our system, not enough to cast spells mind you, is still enough to allow us to do unique techniques that could give the most powerful shinnobi a run for their money." Kenji said with pride in his voice. The small amounts of magic in their system was enough for them to make their techniques more powerful, like the ones he developed for his new swords, the Twin Terrors.

"Too true, bro, too true." Naruto quipped. "Anyway, the match is going to start. If I know Haku, he's going to give Kiba a bit of a beating. If he brings out his…friends then Kiba will be in for a nightmare he won't forget."

"Want to bet on that?" said Kenji as his eyes gleamed with a bit of greed and excitement.

"That's a sucker's bet and you know it." Naruto pointed out making Kenji pout.

Naruto shook his head. Brother or not, Kenji was a gambling addict. Thankfully, the boy's allowance was regulated by Haku or all of it would be lost in his many gambling stints in the village.

* * *

Kiba was nervous. His sensei told him all about the Mahora Clan and their sadistic head, Mahora Hari. He knew that his opponent was leagues ahead of him in terms of both skill and power. In fact, Mahora Haku was already trained before he joined the ranks and Mahora Hari only improved that. He was confident that he would win in his match but when he saw Kenji demonstrate his skills after the brute of a boy insulted the Mahora Clan in front of everyone, he knew that he was going to be in a fight for his life.

When he saw his name along with Haku, his sensei immediately told him to take the fight seriously or else he would be in a world of hurt. He originally planned to fight on his own without Akamaru's - his dog partner's - help but immediately discarded that idea when he saw who he was up against.

He needed all the help he could get if he wanted to win this round and move on to the next phase of the Chuunin Exams.

When the proctor called out the match to start, he immediately attacked using his clan's feral taijutsu to take his opponent down as quick as possible. He was surprised and a bit pissed when Haku merely dodged and blocked his swipes, thrusts, and punches with a bored expression on his face.

After 10 minutes of wasting his energy, Kiba decided to bring out the big guns if he wanted his opponent to take him seriously.

KIba jumped in preparation for one of his family's famed techniques. He fished out a soldier pill from his hip pouch and tossed it to Akamaru who expertly swallowed it before jumping on his back as he crouched and did the necessary hand seals to activate the jutsu.

"_**Beast Human Clone!"**_ Kiba shouted as chakra poured out of him and went into Akamaru who transformed into a more feral clone of Kiba in a puff of smoke. Kiba-Akamaru looked more feral than his partner if the claws and fangs were anything to go by.

Haku merely raised an eyebrow at the technique since this was his first time to see it up close and personal despite knowing about it after studying a book of Konoha Bloodlines his clan head compiled and stored inside the clan's library, for medical purposes of course. Seeing the animal transform into a human clone wasn't surprising; however, to see it in action was something else.

Well, if Kiba wanted to bring out another fighter into the ring, who was he to complain?

He jumped back as he unstrapped the scroll on his back and threw it into the air, the scroll opening on its own accord to reveal six large seals with the Kanji of "1" to "6". While the scroll was in the air, Haku bit his thumb to draw a bit of blood before going through a series of one-handed seals for a summoning.

Unlike the normal summoning wherein you bring a summon animal from their realm, this summon was to bring out an animal placed in stasis in a pocket dimension of his design. When the scroll was within reach, Haku did a complete 360 turn as he grabbed the scroll with his uninjured hand and completed the spin crouching down on the ground before placing his wounded hand on the seal array with the Kanji of "One" on its center.

"_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ichi!"**_

Everyone in the area was both shocked and surprised to see a 10-foot tall rabbit standing in front of Haku when the smoke from the summoning dissipated. This was no ordinary rabbit and it was quite obvious.

This gigantic specimen of lethal, yet cute, rabbit had fangs and claws that gleamed in the light. Also, the rabbit was armed to the teeth, figuratively, of course – a large zanbatou on its back, shoulder guard and chest plate – both modified and heavily enchanted for better protection; a modified hip pouch strapped on its furry waist. The Konoha headband tied on its head and the metal collar with the Mahora clan symbol on its face around its neck told everyone where its allegiance lay.

Haku couldn't help but give out a smug grin when everyone, Kiba included, was gaping at the appearance of the armed Nin-Rabbit in front of them. He could even see Naruto and Kenji gape at his pet for a few seconds before giving him looks of pure disbelief.

Thanks to the permission his somewhat drunk clan head gave him, Haku immediately went into the forest and took out 6 of the largest rabbits he could find, the smallest being 7-feet tall and the largest at 10 feet. He immediately brought them into one of the secluded portions of the training ground, heavily warded against his clan mates to keep his project a secret. After applying a judicious amount of sedatives to keep them down, he used a rare spell he found in the library to begin the education of his newly-acquired pets.

Unlike the other rabbits in the forest, the ones Haku procured were trained using a variation of the _Legilimens Curse_ he discovered in the Mahora Clan library during his study of Mind Magic. Unlike the _Legilimens_ spell that gives the caster the method to invade a person's mind and extract information through their memories, the _Legilimens Captorus_ was a high-end variation that allows the caster to reprogram the target by injecting new memories directly into their subconscious mind.

In a way, this spell was similar to the _Obliviate Curse_ to remove memories from a person's mind and the _Memory Charm_ to plant false memories. However, both were temporary and could be easily broken by a powerful witch or wizard. The _Legilimens Captorus Charm_, however, injects memories directly into the target's mind, so deep that it would be ingrained as if it was a part of them.

Many would consider this spell a Dark Art back in Hari's old dimension but it wasn't labeled as such because it only worked on animals with low intelligence and was useless against humans.

In truth, spell was mostly used to train livestock to behave or for family pets to adhere to the needs of their owners. Other than that, the spell was next to useless. That and the fact that it requires a bit of power to pull off since it was necessary for the caster to maintain the spell while the 'reprogramming' was taking place. This was the reason why the education of his pets took two days to finish with lots of _Pepper-Up _to ensure that his reserves were up to the task.

Using the spell, Haku reprogrammed the mind of his pets. He injected shinobi fighting skills and a deep loyalty to him and the Mahora Clan to keep them in line. Also, Haku discovered that his rabbits were subconsciously using chakra to increase their speed and strength, one of the reasons why there were able to take down Jounin or ANBU level shinobis with ease, especially if they were caught off guard. Because of this, Haku included a few supplemental jutsus in the reprogramming to make them more effective in battle.

When the lessons were done, he spent the next two days working on their teamwork so he could start using them in battle when needed. All in all, Haku couldn't help but be proud of his pets. Not only were they cute and furry, they were deadly as well.

Haku conjured three senbons after strapping the scroll on his back before barking out an order.

"Ichi, Attack!"

The rabbit dubbed as Ichi growled, which practically scared everyone silly since rabbits were not suppose to growl, before pulling out the zanbatou and lunging at Kiba at Chuunin-level speeds. This made some of the ANBU in attendance gape since they knew of such rabbits living in the forest and none of them used chakra to enhance their speeds. It was one thing for a Mahora to train these rabid predators to become partners in battles, but to train them to use chakra? The Mahoras were scary!

Kiba and Kiba-Akamaru jumped out of the way of the large zanbatou bearing down on them, aiming to cleave then in half. He gulped when he saw the large sword smash the floor, leaving a large gash where it lay. If he blocked that attack then he would be a smudge now. His enhanced ears saved him when he dodged three senbons coming at him from Haku though Kiba-Akamaru wasn't lucky since a senbon hit the dog-now-human on the leg which paralyzed it.

Growling, Kiba changed trajectory and spun in the air towards Haku to attack the teen with one of his clan's signature offensive techniques.

"_**Tsuuga!" **_Turning into a drill, Kiba flew through the air towards Haku who was flying through a set of one hand seals before whispering out his defensive technique.

"_**Hyoton: Ice Wall." **_A large wall of chakra-enhanced ice materialized in front of him just in time to intercept the attack.

Unlike his _Demonic Ice Mirrors_, the _Hyoton: Ice Wall_ was a simple defensive technique though not as strong as its more powerful predecessor. Upon seeing his meager defense crack from the onslaught, Haku used his speed to get out of the way before his Ice Wall was destroyed.

Haku fired off a wandless _Legilimens_ towards Ichi, mentally instructing his pet to bring down Kiba-Akamaru as quick as possible since he didn't want to drag this fight too long. Haku knew that it would only take 5 minutes or less since Kiba's partner was slowing down thanks to its stamina and chakra running low on top of his paralyzed leg as the dog-now-human tried to dodge Ichi's attacks who's speed was way better than the nin-dog.

Haku had to dodge again since Kiba continued with his drill-like assault, changing direction after destroying the ice wall towards him. Since he didn't want to bring out his magic so early in the exam, Haku decided to fight fire with fire, or in this case, water. He flipped through a set of seals as he inhaled a large of gulp of air, already feeling his chakra and magic creating large amounts of compressed water in his mouth.

"_**Suiton: Water Bullet." **_A powerful torrent of chakra-enhanced water blew out of Haku's mouth and collided with Kiba's _Tsuuga_. Both fought for dominance and ended in a stalemate but that didn't last long since Haku increased the amount of chakra in his technique, giving it an additional boost in power.

Kiba was surprised when the water technique destroyed his chakra-enhanced spin and propelled him towards the wall with such force that it cracked. He couldn't move, or breathe for that matter since the water was still going strong as it pushed him further into the wall. Thankfully for him, Haku ended the technique since he didn't want to waste chakra or further injure his fellow Konoha shinobi.

Haku spied in his peripheral vision that Ichi already took care of the other Kiba's partner who reverted back to its natural state when Ichi used its zanbatou like a baseball bat that caught Akamaru on the head with such force that the nin-dog was immediately knocked unconscious, dispelling the technique since the dog was no longer conscious to maintain the technique.

Deciding to end the fight, Haku did the hand seals for his last attack before Kiba could recover.

"_**Suiton: Thousand Water Needles of Death."**_

Needles made of water materialized out of thin air before flying straight for Kiba who was turned into a human pincushion on his place in the wall. Thanks to Haku's control and aim, the water needles didn't hit anything vital but it definitely put Kiba out of commission until the medics could bring him out of it.

"Winner: Mahora Haku." shouted Hayate when he determined that Kiba was unconscious and motioned for the medics to come in to take the boy to the hospital bay to be treated.

Haku bowed to the examiner and did a Ram seal.

"_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ichi, Kai!"**_ said Haku causing Ichi to disappear in a puff of smoke, returning him to the sealing scroll on his back without bothering to open it. He was inwardly happy for studying seals on his spare time and it paid off spectacularly. He bowed to the stunned crowed before using _Shunshin_ to return to his comrades up in the stands.

"So, how did I do?" Haku asked immediately upon arrival.

"Aside from the fact that your new pet is scary, you did good." Kenji informed the ice-wielding Mahora while Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Kenji." Haku said with a smile before spotting the name on the board. "I guess it's turn, Naruto."

Naruto looked up to the board to see that his brother was right. His fight was up next and couldn't help but grin when he discovered WHO his opponent was.

**:: Mahora-Uzumaki Naruto VS Rock Lee ::**

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**End of Chapter 18**

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi folks. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy! ^_^**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. **

* * *

**Chapter 19: Tiger Fist VS Strong Fist!**

* * *

"A rabbit, Hari?" Asuma exclaimed a bit hysterically. "Out of all the animals you can give to your student as partners, why in the world did you give him THOSE rabbits from Training Ground 44?"

Hari didn't answer right away but continued to stare incredulously at the menacing animal on the arena. He didn't expect this but he should have since this was Haku. Like Naruto, the kid never did anything normal. He wondered if magic had that affect on people…nah!

"I didn't know." Hari said lamely. In all honesty, he didn't know about the rabbits since Haku was quite vague when he asked for his permission. Even if he was drunk at that time, all he processed while under the effects of alcohol was _"Permission to proceed with my pet project, Hari-sama."_

Hari should have remembered how Haku said 'pet' with a manic gleam in the teen's eyes. He thought it was a harmless pet, like a dog or something cute and fluffy since Haku had a penchant for those. However, he was sadly mistaken if the large armed-to-the-teeth rabbit in the middle of the arena was anything to go by.

"You didn't _know_ that Haku, your student and a member of your clan I might add, commandeered six giant rabbits from the most deadly training ground in the entire Elemental Nations and trained them to fight on top of their natural abilities as predators, not to mention arming them like a shinobi?" Kakashi deadpanned. "It's proven, Hari. You're crazy!"

"Well, there's nothing wrong in using the rabbits in Training Ground 44 as partners, you know." Hari defended himself, as well as Haku's penchant for anything remotely cute even if they were on the dangerous side. Besides, living on the edge adds a certain zest to his life, a trait shared by the rest of the Mahora clan.

"Granted there is nothing wrong with it, Hari-san," Kurenai pointed out. "However, there's something morally wrong about training the animals in _that_ forest as partners. From what I heard of your exploits, you can easily give Haku a summon animal if you really want to."

"True but there's nothing wrong in using the resources available to Konoha, Kurenai-san." Hari disagreed. "Sure, I can easily give Haku an animal partner with the Summoning Contracts I have in my possession but why do so when Haku can choose his own partner from the gifts the Shodaime Hokage left to our generation."

This caught everyone short. What gift was the Mahora clan head talking about?

"Gifts?" Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi asked in unison. The Jounins within hearing range were curiously listening on the conversation.

"Yes, gifts." Hari said with a nod. "I studied the animals in the forest while I was trying to discover the complexities of chakra compared to my clan's _mahoujutsu_. According to my thesis, which you can find in the library by the way if you're curious about it, the Shodaime Hokage infused so much Nature Chakra into the creation of the forest that the plants themselves absorb and release chakra in different amounts. This resulted in the animals within the boundaries of the forest to evolve as they absorb the chakra these trees give out. The combination of physical and spiritual energy mutated the animals so they're bigger and stronger than those outside. Add to the fact that they had to survive with other predators around, you get a bunch of gigantic animals that can even bring down an ANBU with numbers on their side."

"So you're saying that we have those giant animals in Training Ground 44 because of the Shodaime?" Asuma asked with some disbelief. This was definitely new since no one took the time or the effort to study the mutations in the Forest of Death. They weren't suicidal or crazy enough to try. Heck, even Orochimaru with his penchant for human experimentation didn't try it out.

"Correct. If you don't believe me then you might want to let Kakashi scope out the animals there with his Sharingan or ask a Hyuuga to do it with a Byakugan or two. The plants and animals there have varying chakra levels in their system. I theorized that the animals there were able to use them via instinct, subconsciously augmenting their deadliness and fighting prowess." Hari said with a shrug. "This is the reason why I allowed Haku his pet project. As long as they don't run wild and killing people, I don't mind if he had an army of them sealed up in that scroll of his."

"How did he train them then? As far as I'm concerned, those animals in the forest view humans as a food source. I doubt they would be willing to be trained by a human." asked Kurenai.

Hari shrugged.

"Don't know. But if I know Haku well enough then he used one of the _techniques_ in one of my books to get it done. Quite ingenious if you ask me." He mused before a thought occurred to him. "That's an idea. I'll ask Haku about it and see if I can replicate the process. Think about it, with those animals at our beck and call, it would bolster the village's defenses with them running around. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Everyone who saw Hari's manic grin coupled with his declaration shuddered, especially those who knew of Hari's penchant towards sadism.

The Suna shinobi who heard that shivered. They were so screwed.

* * *

Naruto looked at his opponent with a bit of incredulity considering what Rock Lee was wearing and how the teen was an exact duplicate of Maito Gai, the premier Taijutsu expert of Konohagakure no Sato.

But despite the Genin's outfit, he knew that Lee was a genius of hard work and had taken to Gai's teaching like a fish to water. Thanks to Hari's training, he could somewhat identify a person's fighting prowess by observing their physical traits.

The deep concentration in Lee's eyes spoke of mastery in fighting, though a few pegs lower to being a master.

The contraction of muscles spoke of hours and hours of fighting and training or a combination of both.

Naruto's eyes strayed to Lee's leg warmers since he knew that the boy was wearing weights considering who his sensei was. After all, Hari followed the man's advice in training his team. He just didn't know how much weights Lee was wearing.

The blonde inwardly grinned since he had his own version of limiting his own power to avoid giving anything away. On the back of right hand was an intricate seal in the shape of a star inside a circle drawn out of seals. In the middle of the star was the number '3' meaning that his restriction was at maximum. Naruto knew that he would be removing the seals that kept his powers at bay just to bring Lee down.

"This is going to be a tough fight for me." Naruto said with a grin, his teammates looked at him in question. "Lee is literally Gai's apprentice and you know powerful the man is in terms of hand-to-hand combat. Lee might push me enough to deactivate my restrictions."

"You have a point there." said Kenji as his eyes strayed to Lee who was having a deep conversation with his sensei. He saw the Genin grin widely and giving the spandex wearing Jounin a thumbs up. "You might have to take this seriously, bro."

"Well, no use talking about it. Let the show begin." said Naruto before throwing himself off the rails, totally foregoing the stairs, before landing beside the proctor. Lee did the same thing since the boy was practically vibrating with excitement.

"YOSH! THIS IS GOING TO BE AN EPIC MATCH!" Lee declared with fire burning in his eyes. Naruto couldn't help but grin at the boy.

"You got that right, Lee. Let's give it everything we got, alright?" asked Naruto, gaining a nod of agreement from his opponent. He turned to the proctor who was looking at them in amusement. "You might as well start the match, proctor-san. This is going to get ugly."

"Knowing who your respective senseis are, I don't doubt it." the proctor said wryly before addressing the crowd. "MAHORA-UZUMAKI NARUTO VERSUS ROCK LEE! HAJIME!"

The proctor exited the arena just in time because Lee and Naruto immediately starting bringing out the heavy punches and kicks as the two utilized all their taijutsu skills to bring the other down. Punches and kicks were either blocked or dodgeD, while some attacks met that resulted in shockwaves and sounds of exploding tags going off. They sped through different attack routines, utilizing the floor, walls, and ceiling to their advantage. Throughout the match, everyone except for a grinning Gai and Hari, had their jaws on the floor as they saw the destruction of the once clean arena because of two Genins.

"_Leaf shinobi are nuts! They are destroying the place with their punches and kicks alone. We are so screwed."_ Kankuro thought, having a bad feeling about the coming invasion.

"_Mother wants their blood! Lots and lots of blood!"_ Gaara thought with a sadistic grin that made those around him take a step back.

Naruto blocked a kick that would have connected to his chin as Lee used his amazing speed to get under his guard. He grabbed the offending appendage before swinging the taijutsu-using Genin around a couple of times before letting go, throwing the boy away. However, Lee flipped to right himself, feet impacting the wall causing it crack before using it as a springboard to launch a fast kick.

"_**Dynamic Entry!"**_

Naruto saw the attack coming and channeled a bit of chakra to his hands. He met Lee's devastating kick with a double palm thrust.

"_**Double Tiger Palms."**_ he shouted as he felt Lee's kick on his palms before shoving the compressed chakra out through them. Not prepared for the counter, Lee practically flew through the air. However, Naruto capitalized on this as he used a carefully-timed _Shunshin_ to appear on top of the flying Genin and rammed both of his feet to his stomach resulting in a spectacular crash on the floor that resulted in sizable crater to form, adding more damage to the already destroyed arena. Naruto grinned in triumph but wasn't prepared when Lee quickly recovered from that attack and did a handstand-twister move that hit him on the face, throwing him back. He righted himself and landed on the floor, skidding to a stop a few meters away from the Genin who just jumped out of the crater, looking worse for wear.

Naruto already felt his face healing. "That was a smooth counter there, Lee." he complimented the boy.

"Your flames of youth are burning strong, Naruto! Gai-sensei warned me to take you seriously at the start but I didn't heed his words. Now I know what he meant. You are a formidable fighter and it would be an insult if I give it my all." Lee exclaimed before taking off the weights on his legs. He threw it to his side causing the floor to cave in when it landed because of its weight. Quite a lot of jaws dropped at the sight of the crater with the weights in the middle of it.

Naruto whistled when he saw the damage the weights caused. "Those must have been quite heavy. I'm curious, Lee. How heavy are they?" he asked curiously.

"Five hundred pounds…each!" Lee declared proudly.

"Wow. I think your sensei is more sadistic than my sensei." Naruto said with some amazement causing some Jounins to nod in agreement.

"Since I decided to give it my all, Naruto, I think you should do it too." Lee suggested since he knew that his opponent was holding back.

Naruto nodded. He would extend the same courtesy. It was only fair to do so. He raised his hand in front of his face showing the seal on the back of his hand. "I thought I wouldn't need to use this but I guess I don't have a choice. Since you let go of your weights, I will do the same. _**Mahora Restriction 3 and 2: Release!**_" the number three shifted to the number one as a burst of chakra erupted from Naruto before it died down as if nothing happened. The blonde immediately felt his body as light as a feather and his muscles no longer feeling constricted. "There we go. I removed the Gravity and Resistance Seals."

"What are they?" Lee asked curiously. The two fighters didn't notice it but everyone was hanging on to their words.

"You saw the number three in the middle of the pattern right?" Naruto asked making Lee nod. "You see, this is what is called a _Mahora Limiter_ Hari-sensei made for me. It is a safety measure since I can't control my strength sometimes especially in battle. It has three settings. Number one seals off half of my chakra. Number two limits my strength by half. Number three, the last setting, decreases my speed in half. Right now, my strength and speed is at its maximum while my chakra is half. I'm not worried about it since I doubt we would be resorting to jutsus. I know you can't use chakra, Lee, so I made it a special point for this to be a taijutsu-only match. Not that I'm underestimating you but I want to see how far I've come in my personal style by testing it against a taijutsu expert such as yourself."

Rock Lee looked at Naruto for a few seconds before a large grin appeared on his face.

"YOSH! YOU ARE DEFINITELY AN HONORABLE SHINOBI, NARUTO! I PROMISE YOU THAT I WILL GIVE YOU MY ALL IN THIS FIGHT! YOSH!" screamed Lee at the top of his lungs causing those with sensitive ears to cover them lest their ear drums explode. Without warning, Lee disappeared from his perch using pure speed with Naruto doing the same.

With the speed of their taijutsu battle, only some Chunins and Jounins were able to see what the two were doing. However, those who didn't see were able to feel the shockwaves and hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh. The arena was taking another beating since quite a lot of chunks of stone were being turned to dust due to the intensity of the fight.

Naruto got punched in the jaw strong enough to slam into the wall with tremendous force, almost breaking through the reinforced concrete.

"_Damn. He definitely hits hard not to mention that speed of his. Despite getting rid of the restrictions, he is still faster."_ thought Naruto as he extricated himself from the wall before his sixth told him to dodge. He did so just in time to avoid a powerful kick from Lee that completely destroyed the wall he vacated a few seconds ago. Seeing the opportunity that presented itself, Naruto grabbed Lee's arm before slamming him on the floor and throwing him up into the air to initiate one of his style's combos.

"_**Tiger Meets Heaven!" **_shouted Naruto as he jumped after Lee and hitting the boy's stomach with a powerful uppercut the propelled him further up into the air. Before he could escape his range, the blonde grabbed Lee's leg, twirled him a few times over his head before throwing him back to the floor with so much strength that it caused an explosion, rocking the chamber due to force of collision. Not done, Naruto freely surrendered himself to gravity's hold towards a groaning Lee and flipped to slam an axe kick on the Genin's stomach. _**"Tiger Grounds Earth!"**_

Naruto jumped out of the somewhat deep crater and landed in front of the proctor who was looking at the carnage that two caused during their match. "I hope that ends it." the blonde said with a sigh. He knew for a fact that if he brought out some of more interesting combos, things would get bloody big time. He refrained from using incapacitating blows and avoiding Lee's critical areas since he didn't want to put the boy in a hospital under intense conditions. Sure, he would be roughed up a bit but not hanging to life by a thread.

Before the proctor could announce the winner of the match, he felt a large surge of chakra coming from inside the crater. Both he and Naruto went to see what caused it to find Lee surrounded by an intense wave of chakra that made Naruto gasp.

"Holy shit. I thought Lee couldn't use chakra!" exclaimed Naruto in surprise though he was not speaking to anyone at the moment since the proctor made a special point to go back to the safety of his perch since he knew that the fight was going to go up a notch. He saw Lee's hair stand on its end and his skin tone changed to a darker hue. He saw the veins and muscles bulging from the surge of chakra running through the boy. "This is going to get ugly." he muttered to himself as he prepared for a long and painful fight.'

* * *

Back in the stands, Hari couldn't help but enjoy the battle before raising an eyebrow when Lee did something that he only heard from rumors. The boy was opening the _Hachimon_.

"Damn. I knew Gai was a sadistic bastard in training Lee but I didn't know he went to this extent." Hari said with a chuckle, happy that this fight was going up a level. It was hard to find good entertainment these days.

"What do you mean, Hari?" asked Kurenai. She could feel an intense wave of chakra coming out of the Genin in the middle of the crater but this chakra was more attuned to the physical body instead of any jutsus. She knew of Rock Lee's inability to use chakra but how come the boy was channeling huge amounts of it that shouldn't be impossible for him.

"Gai taught Lee how to open the _Hachimon_." Kakashi answered, his voice was both amazed and angry at the same time. "He shouldn't have taught such a deadly technique to a Genin."

"And why is that, my Eternal Rival?" asked Gai when he joined the Konoha Jounin instead of staying with his Genins in the other side of the arena.

"You know what I mean, Gai. The _Hachimon_ is a forbidden technique. Opening them has its consequences especially to a Genin no matter how much you trained him." Kakashi rebuked but Gai didn't back down.

"Lee is my student, Kakashi, and I will do everything I can to help him in his goals. I know the risk of opening the _Hachimon_, after all, I am the one who discovered it, but he knows the risk and he wouldn't take it too far."

"Would someone please explain what the _Hachimon_ is?" Kurenai asked in an exasperated tone, stopping Kakashi's retort to Gai's declaration.

"_Hachimon_ or the Eight Celestial Gates" answered Hari, his eyes not leaving the Genin powering up in the middle of the area. His own student, Naruto, was observing the boy, possibly using his own senses to assess the danger level. "are the limiters built into the human body. The main function of the _Hachimon_ is to limit a person's chakra, protecting them from the backlash of such power coursing through their Chakra Pathways. There are a total of eight of these limiters in the human body, each blocking a certain amount of chakra from being used."

"So? As far as I'm concerned, these gates are handy since chakra is a shinobi's asset." asked Kurenai with a raised eyebrow. She didn't know what the problem was.

"True, the more chakra a shinobi has, the better his edge in battle would be." Hari agreed before a frown appeared on his face. "However, opening the limiters in the human body has its own risk and opening the last gate means death to anyone who does, giving them only ten minutes at most to use techniques that no Kage could hope to match. Taijutsu Masters know the consequences of opening the _Hachimon_ and only use it as a last resort or in a life and death situation. Aside from the fatigue afterwards, a person who opens more than three of the eight gates suffer problems not limited to muscle damage, broken bones, or damaged chakra pathways due to the strain of having that much chakra coursing through their system. Despite being a powerful asset in battle, the _Hachimon_ is a double-edged sword. The human body is not designed to handle that much power that is why Kami created us with a limiter of sorts. If Lee uses the first two gates with his current body, he would be suffering from physical exhaustion and some muscle problems. However, if he opens, let's say, the fifth gate then you can kiss his shinobi career goodbye."

That brought Kurenai up short. She leveled Gai an accusing stare but the Taijutsu Master met it with equal intensity.

"As I told Kakashi, Lee is _my_ student and I _will_ help him achieve his goals." Gai told them, his tone lacking the enthusiastic 'Youth' he kept preaching to the masses. "Lee was called the dead-last in the Academy since he couldn't use chakra. Because of this, he couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, limiting his shinobi prowess by a large degree. I saw Lee's potential as he trained day and night in a secluded training ground and finally decided to take him in as an apprentice. He knows the power granted to him by the _Hachimon_ and he knows the risk. He is giving everything in this fight and I will not stop him. Doing so is a clear disrespect to his abilities."

"You know, Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai is right. Despite the _Hachimon_ being a forbidden technique, Lee is responsible enough in its use. The restraint he showed in not opening the gates at the start of the match to overpower his opponents clearly shows the boy's discipline in using this power." Hari praised the boy making Gai grin. "Besides, I can easily take care of Lee's injuries if he goes overboard." he turned to Gai. "After the match, bring your student to the hospital wing. I'll make sure that he won't suffer a backlash that would hinder his shinobi career."

"Thank you, Hari-san." Gai said with his usual enthusiastic smile.

"No problem, Gai. Glad to be of help. It would be a great disrespect to lose such a talented shinobi over something trivial." Hari said dismissively causing Kakashi to gawk at him.

"Opening the _Hachimon_ is not a trivial matter, Hari." Kakashi pointed out.

"It is to me, Kakashi." said Hari in a bored tone. "I know all about the Hachimon and studied its effects and drawbacks. I know how to treat the boy if worse comes to worse. Besides, you know my reputation. Do you think I can't heal Lee short of his opening the last gate with what I'm capable of?"

"Fine. Who am I to doubt the _Shinobi of Life_?" Kakashi grumbled. He couldn't deny the fact that if anyone can help Lee, it was Hari. Heck, the Mahora Clan Head practically healed a Konoha shinobi who had a hole through his heart due to an Iwa ambush. Who was he to deny his capabilities as a healer?

"Glad we understand each other." Hari said with a smile. "Now hush. I want to see how my student would handle this."

* * *

Back in the arena below the Jounin sensei's perch, Naruto prepared himself for an intense battle. He could feel Lee's energy climb to unimaginable levels. He could clearly hear the boy's words as he stood in the center of the crater, dense chakra busting out of him in a blue pillar of energy.

"_**Seimon: Kai!"**_ Lee's energy output doubled as his skin turned red.

"_**Shoumon: Kai!"**_ Naruto gaped as the chakra around Lee intensified.

"_**Tomon: Kai!"**_ was all Lee said before disappearing from his perch to appear in front of Naruto, landing an uppercut on the blonde's chin causing him to fly into the air.

"_Such strength."_ Naruto thought as he felt the sharp pain caused by Lee's attack. Lee wasn't done though since he was pelting the blonde with intense blows as they climbed higher. Naruto was under throes of pain, his healing factor failing to catch up to the powerful attacks the taijutsu-using Genin was raining down on his body.

"This is it, Naruto. I will show you my ultimate technique!" shouted Lee as he appeared behind the blonde as the bandages on his arms flew out and wrapped around his opponent putting him in a tight grip. Naruto could feel him spinning with Lee guiding his movement as both of them turned into something akin to a drill, his head forming the tip as they headed straight to the ground. _**"Omote Renge!"**_

"_I need to get out of this fast!"_ thought a frantic Naruto as he channeled every bit of his chakra into his last resort. The technique wasn't complete yet but he needed to use it now since he couldn't budge an inch due to the bandages. _**"Dance of the Slicing Winds!"**_ he screamed as he used every bit of wind chakra his body could create. A burst of wind flew out of his body as miniscule chakra blades starting floating around him. The bandages didn't stand a chance as it was shredded by sharp blades of solidified wind.

Lee's caught on to the technique and immediately disengaged his attack, avoiding mortally wounded by the unknown counter. He landed at a safe distance from the blonde who was able to flip to land on his feet, observing the various green tornadoes floating around Naruto as his body was cocooned by potent green chakra.

"_Damn. That was close."_ Said Naruto as he channeled a bit of Kyuubi's chakra to reinforce his healing factor. He couldn't use the bijuu's chakra in battle but he could safely use small amounts of it to reinforce his body or to up his healing factor to extreme levels. Even now, he could feel the bruises and wounds healing while his energy reserves slowly replenished.

"_**I'm surprised you only used my chakra to heal yourself."**_ Kyuubi told his container in their limited mental connection.

"_It's not battle ready yet. I need a few more months of training to have the focus needed to use your potent chakra in a fight. Hari-sensei already promised training after the exam so I can truly use it without being distracted."_ Naruto mentally replied to his tenant.

"_**Suit yourself."**_ Said Kyuubi with a shrug. _**"Congratulation on finally activating your clan's technique, kit. Good luck."**_

"Thanks." replied Naruto before focusing his sights on the wary Genin in front of him. "Considering that you are now using chakra, albeit physically, I think its fine time to really show you my true power, Lee." He told the boy as he channeled a bit of chakra to the limiter on his hand. _**"Mahora Restriction One: Release!"**_

Similar to Lee's opening of the _Hachimon_, Naruto's chakra burst forth from his body in a pillar of potent blue energy. Naruto felt exhilarated as the full force of his chakra flowed through his pathways, revitalizing his body while boosting his physical strength. Hari already explained to him that a limiting his chakra was like limiting his body's overall performance. Since chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energy, he was physically weakening himself with the first limiter.

"I think it's time that I show you what I can really do, Lee." Naruto said calmly, the chakra around him still swirling menacingly like a cloak. With that said Naruto blurred out of sight to appear in front of Lee, his palm already on the boy's stomach. _**"Tiger Palm Wave."**_ He murmured as a wave of pure chakra flew out from his palm that threw Lee away like a rag doll while damaging some of the muscles in his stomach. He toned down his output to avoid damaging Lee's internal organs but it would still hurt. He used his boosted speed to appear behind his opponent, his palms already connected to the boy's back as he used both his physical strength and chakra to perform his next attack. _**"Double Tiger Palm Thrust!"**_

Lee couldn't describe the pain in his stomach and back as his opponent attacked him with two powerful taijutsu techniques combining both physical strength and chakra. He screamed in pain as he flew forward but saw Naruto appear in his path, his fists on both his hips glowing blue with chakra.

"_**Tiger's Rage!"**_ shouted Naruto as he started raining chakra enhanced punches on Lee's front, breaking bones, bruising muscles, and damaging internal organs causing said Genin to twitch like a doll as blows upon blows were rained down on his at speeds he could barely keep up. As a finisher, Naruto cocked his right fist back, the glow of chakra intensified. "Go to sleep, Lee. _**Tiger Uppercut!**_" his chakra-charged fist slammed on Lee's chin throwing him high up into the air to crash into the ceiling before falling down to the earth, unconscious. In a show of sportsmanship, Naruto caught Lee in a bridal carry since he didn't want to the boy to suffer any more damage.

* * *

Hari was waiting by the steps when his student came up with Lee on his arms. He could see Lee showing extreme signs of chakra exhaustion and winced when he saw some of the deformed muscles on the boy's body through the spandex. Naruto's last attack was quite powerful due to his upgraded strength but add chakra to the mix, it was a miracle the boy survive. It was quite obvious that his student toned down his punches or there would be a funeral instead of a healing routine.

"Great fight, boya." Hari praised his charge while levitating the unconscious Lee out of the boy's arms. He fired a diagnostic spell on Naruto before nodding. "You didn't suffer any lasting damage and would heal in a few minutes. Don't activate your limiter yet since you're healing. Put them back on if you feel that you're well enough. Understood?"

"Hai, sensei." Naruto agreed before looking at the unconscious Genin with a bit of worry. "Will Lee be alright?"

"He's not dead and that's alright in my book." Hari said with a shrug before beckoning for Gai to follow him. "Go back to your teammates and watch the rest of the match. I'll see you later when I'm done."

Naruto nodded before using _Shunshin_ to go to where his teammates were, leaving Hari and Gai making their way towards the hospital bay with Lee floating in between them. He also sent Prongs the Patronus to Kakashi with a message to bring Sasuke with him so he could check out the boy's cursed seal and, maybe, discover a way to get rid of it.

Besides, with Anko's Cursed Seal barred from him, Sasuke's was the next best thing on the table for him to study.

* * *

Hari had Lee completely healed in a span of ten minutes since the boy just needed a dose of muscle restorer, large application of bruise paste that he left for the on-duty medics to administer, and a dose of pepper-up potion to speed up Lee's recovery by replenishing the boy's physical energy. When that was done, he left Gai to watch over his protégé while he led Kakashi to an enclosed chamber where a stunned Sasuke was. He placed the silencing ward around the room just in case someone was listening in on their conversation.

"Can you get rid of it?" asked Kakashi with a bit of worry as he watched Hari pull out a stick and waved it over his student. He hoped that the Mahora Clan Head could get rid of it since the one on Anko resisted any forms of removal despite Jiraiya's best efforts. If a Seal Master of Jiraiya's caliber could not remove the seal then maybe Hari could with his unique _treatments_.

"Hm, interesting." murmured Hari as he analyzed the result of the diagnostic spell he cast on the boy's Cursed Seal. He summoned a clipboard from the table in the corner before conjuring a pen and enchanting it to record his findings. "Orochimaru definitely knew what he was doing when he made this. He may be a criminal but he is a genius."

"What did you find?" Kakashi asked, interested in hearing what the Cursed Seal really was.

"The Cursed Seal is made up of two parts. An enzyme from an unknown source, artificial or otherwise, that can boost a person's chakra by flooding it with another form of energy. However, the energy from the enzyme is corrosive in nature that causes pain when used. I suspect that it might also result in a physical transformation of sorts if frequently used. The second part is the seal itself. I detected three major functions on the seal and all of them aren't good for the victim." Hari reported before looking at the floating clipboard that was slowly being filled. "The first function of the seal is to lower a person's willpower, forcing the victim to use the seal as often as possible. This also has the side-effect of making them more of a berserker if nothing else. The second function acts like a backdoor to give Orochimaru a form of influence on the person. This gives evidence to how Orochimaru was subjecting Anko to torturous pains when I confronted the man back in the forest. And three, the seal contains a piece of soul that I surmise is from Orochimaru himself." he said with some disgust since this was similar to how a Horcrux works. "I don't know the reason for the soul but if I have to guess, Orochimaru is capable of hijacking a person through the seal and possessing them. It's bloody Voldemort all over again!" he said the last part in exasperation.

"Vol-de-mot?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

"Voldemort." Hari corrected and explained when he saw the confused look on the Jounin's face. "Imagine Orochimaru with my _bloodline_. Same goal, same attitude." he saw Kakashi wince. "I already killed the idiot so that's nothing to worry about."

"That's good." Kakashi said with a sigh of relief.

"I know." Hari nodded in agreement. "Now, as far as I can tell, it is quite easy to remove the Cursed Seal from Sasuke but I need to run a few tests first to make sure I get everything right."

"Is the process dangerous?" Kakashi asked with a bit of fear in his voice.

Hari shrugged. "There are two ways to destroy it. The first is to kill the person carrying the seal." he said casually causing Kakashi to grind his teeth together.

"I will not allow you to kill my student." he exclaimed with a lot of anger in his voice.

Hari rolled his eyes before smacking the Jounin at the back of the head.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" asked Kakashi with a bit of whine in his voice as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You already know I don't take a life, Kakashi, so obviously, I'm not going to kill your precious student." Hari chided the man. "The second option is similar to an exorcism. I can drag Orochimaru's soul out of the seal but that would still leave the Cursed Seal intact but without turning your student into another Itachi or using his body in the future."

"But that still leaves the…corrosive enzyme on Sasuke every time he uses it." Kakashi pointed out.

Hari nodded in agreement. ""Correct. However, if I remove Orochimaru's soul then we don't have to worry about your student going all genocidal on us at the drop of a hat. I'm planning to study the enzymes to see if I can find a way to neutralize it safely without damaging Sasuke's chakra pathways. As far as I can tell, it is already spreading through the boy's body so removing it might be detrimental to his health." he said dryly. "Will you be training Sasuke for the month after this portion of the exam?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. I plan to train him to up his fighting capabilities. However, the training program would depend on who his opponent would be."

"Is that so? Well, that's your prerogative as his sensei. Anyway…"

What Hari was about to say was cut off when a medic entered the room in a panic, making his connection to the ward ping inside his head, making him wince.

"Mahora-sama! We have a patient in critical condition!" the medic shouted in panic.

Hari raised an eyebrow while following the frantic medic to the public ward. He saw Kurenai's student in one of the beds, blood gushing out of her mouth. She was having trouble breathing and Hari could see that this was serious.

"What happened?" Hari barked as he fired a diagnostic spell at the clearly-suffering girl. The result made him wince and curse.

"A _Juuken_ strike to the heart." Kurenai answered coldly.

"WHAT?" Hari exclaimed in surprise and anger. There were only two Hyuuga in the exam so the culprit was Gai's student. He turned to the man who was looking at Hinata with anger, not directed at the girl but someone else. "Explain."

"Neji did this. I specifically told him to let go of his personal feeling during the exams but it seems he didn't heed my warning. How unyouthfu." Gai said angrily before turning to a furious Mahora giving him his well-known death glare. "You know his status in the clan, right?"

"Branch family member, Bird-Cage seal on the forehead. So?"

"He hates the Main Family for his father's sacrifice. Hizashi, Neji's father, took Hiashi's place when the Raikage asked for compensation for Hiashi killing the Kumo ambassador." Gai explained.

"Ah, so this has something to do with the attempted assassination of Hinata before I came to the village, correct?" nodded Hari as he sent some of his magic to Hinata to stabilize her body. He inwardly cursed since her heart was palpitating wildly making it hard for her to breathe. Add that to the various internal bleeding, closed tenketsus, and muscle damage; the girl was lucky to be alive.

"Yes. It seems that his hate on the Main Family centered on Hinata, clearly blaming her for his father's death since it was clear that she was the target that time." Gai replied in affirmative.

"That stupid boy." Hari fumed. "I suggest you _teach_ your student a thing or two, Gai, or he will be facing me for this stupid hatred of his and trust me, you won't like what I plan to _teach_ him if given the chance."

"You have my word on that, Hari-san." Gai answered solemnly though he was half-serious in having Neji spend a day with Hari just to teach the boy some lessons in common sense.

"Good. Now, let's get to treating Hinata. Time's a wasting." Hari said with a nod before firing a slew of healing spells at the girl to get her to rights.

* * *

**End of Chapter 19**

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto. Give credit to where credit is due. **

* * *

**Chapter 20: Making Preparations**

* * *

Hary apparated to the arena to see the preliminaries already finished. There were only a few people in the chamber, namely the Hokage, Anko, Ibiki, some of the Jounin senseis, and Hayate. He walked over to his students lounging around the benches waiting for him, noticing the grin on Naruto's face, eerily similar to his own.

"Yo." said Hari, announcing his entrance to everyone within earshot. "Why does Naruto look like Tora in a catnip high?"

"He drew Neji for the third part of the exam. Serves the bastard right." answered Kenji before turning to Naruto. "You better give him a beating he deserves, bro. Oh, get that meter stick out of his ass while you're at it."

"Count on it." said Naruto before turning to an amused Hari. "Sensei, will you be training us for the month before the finals?"

Hari shook his head causing the three to deflate. "I'm not going to train _any_ of you since there is a big possibility that you three would be fighting one or the other in the third exam. Such is the case; I decided that each of you will have your own sensei for the month. I will be arranging everything today and tomorrow so you three are free until then."

"Who?" Haku asked immediately.

"I haven't asked them yet but I'm sure I'll get a favorable response." Hari admitted to his team. "But if you want to know, I plan to have Gekko Hayate train Kenji to hone his swordsmanship. Haku will be trained by Sano but I'll be giving you a month-long homework on some spells I want you to learn. Naruto, on the other hand, will meet his new master."

"Eh? Are you getting rid of me, sensei?" Naruto asked with a pout.

Hari chuckled before playfully ruffling the blonde's hair.

"No, boya. You are part of the clan so I don't think it's possible to get rid of you at this point even if I wanted to." Hari pointed out making Naruto grin. "Anyway, your apprenticeship with me is at an end since my job was to make sure that you relearn everything you should have learned in the Academy. However, it's not my fault that you practically bulldozed your way through the lessons and acquired new skills along the way." His face was smug when he said that. "Anyway, we will have a general meeting two days from now. Please tell Sano not to take any missions for now until I say so. That's it so you three are dismissed."

"Hai, sensei." the three chorused in unison before Haku grabbed his teammates and apparated out of the area to Kami knows where. He had a sneaky feeling that they were going to Ichiraku to celebrate since Naruto successfully instilled a love of ramen into the ice-wielding Genin.

Harry shook his head before making his way to the feared kunouchi of the T&I Department. "So, who fights who?" he asked Anko.

"See for yourself." said Anko, handing Hari a piece of paper which he took curiously.

Hari whistled upon reading the line up for the third exam. "

Wow. This is going to be bloody." he said with a grin mimicked by Anko. "Who's this Soujiro guy? I don't recognize the name."

Anko shrugged. "He is part of the team from Amegakure. His two teammates didn't make the cut and he's the only one who defeated his opponent." she said dismissively, clearly uninterested in the boy before giving Hari a look. "You do know that your gaki is going to make paste out of the Hyuuga brat, right?"

"Considering that Hinata is practically one of Naruto's 'precious people', I daresay Neji is going to get a pummeling of a lifetime. It is one of nature's lessons – if you anger a tiger, prepare to get mauled or eaten, whichever comes first." Hari said, smirking evilly as he envisioned what his apprentice would do to the Hyuuga Branch prodigy.

"You got that right." Anko agreed. "Anyway, I'm off to get some dangos for lunch. See you!"

Hari watched Anko leave the arena before turning to Hayate.

"Yo, Hayate. You busy this month?" he asked the somewhat bored shinobi.

The once-sick Tokubetsu Jounin shook his head.

"Nope. Hokage-sama gave me a two-month reprieve since I did non-stop missions then proctored the preliminaries. Why?" he asked curiously.

"Would you mind if you train one of my students for the month? I can even put it up as an A-rank mission to make it worth your while." Hari said hopefully. He really wanted the Konoha weapon expert to teach Kenji since the boy could use a proper trainer in the sword arts.

"Who?" Hayate asked curiously. He didn't mind teaching someone but he needed to know who he was going to train since he didn't want to end up teaching someone with skills not similar to his own. This was one of the reasons why he declined a Genin team when it was offered a few months back. Konoha was not a kenjutsu-oriented village unlike Kumo or Tetsu no Kuni so teaching someone the ways of the sword was rare.

"Mahora Kenji. I want someone to refine his swordsmanship. Sano and I can't hope to teach Kenji how to wield his tantos since we are zanbatou users. As far as I'm concerned, katanas and tantos have their own set of disciplines."

Hayate nodded. He could work with that. Besides, Kenji showed amazing talent in wielding his blades. It would be an honor to teach the boy.

"I'll take it. You don't have to turn it into a mission since I would be more than happy to train a future Kenjutsu master."

"Perfect. As payment, I can upgrade your katana if you want me to." Hari offered. Besides, it was the least he could do for someone who tutored him the shinobi art for six months.

"Upgrade?" Hayate asked with child-like curiosity.

"Did you see those blades Kenji used?" Hari asked the man who nodded. "Well, they were regular chakra-metal blades with no abilities whatsoever. As payment for training Kenji, as well as your help in honing my shinobi skills, I can upgrade your katana with the same capabilities as his free of charge."

Hayate's eyes widened when he realized the extent of the man's offer. The black blades Kenji used were beautiful and he could tell that it was masterfully crafted. To think that they were upgraded from regular tantos. He salivated at the prospect of wielding such a weapon.

"You have a deal, Hari." he agreed immediately. "When will I start training him?"

"Thanks. Why don't you drop by my compound two days from now so we can discuss Kenji's training program. I told my boys to rest up so they'll be ready for some hardcore training after that." said Hari before making his way to the Hokage who was conversing with Ibiki. "Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime smiled at the Mahora clan head before a frown appeared on his wrinkled face. "Any news from the infirmary?"

"Hyuuga Hinata is now at the hospital, recovering from her brush with death after I repaired her damaged heart. I already sent an ANBU to inform Hiashi and Hitomi of their daughter's condition. They should be at the hospital right now. I also took the liberty of studying Sasuke's…hickey. I have the preliminary findings right here if you're interested." he said as he patted the hidden pocket on his vest.

"I do. Why don't we meet in my office after an hour? I just need to finalize a few things with Ibiki for the…event we planned during the third part of the exam." the Sandaime said with a smirk which Hari returned.

"See you in an hour then, Hokkage-sama." said Hari who gave the Hokage a two finger salute before apparating to the dango stands to join Anko for a bit of a snack before the meeting.

* * *

"You think Hinata-chan is alright?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Haku couldn't help but roll his eyes. "She's going to be fine, Naruto. You know Hari-sama is the best in the healing arts so I am quite sure Hinata is resting right now to speed up her recovery."

"Yeah, Haku's right so chill out, bro." Kenji said as munched on a sandwich prepared by the Mahora house elves. "You can visit her later at the hospital if you want. Until then, why don't we discuss our training program?"

"What about it?" Haku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just curious. That's all." Kenji asked innocently.

"You do know for a fact that we may be facing each other in the finals, right?" Haku asked making Naruto and Kenji nod in agreement. "So I hope you forgive me if I don't give you both any information on the training I have in mind."

"Spoilsport." Kenji said with a huff before turning to Naruto with pleading eyes.

Naruto grinned. "I'm not falling for that one. Besides, you don't need to worry about training." He assured his fellow teammate. "Even if Hari-sensei won't be training us, I'm sure he's going to leave a few tips and tricks for us to learn. He might not want to teach us directly to avoid all of us gaining an edge over the other but I'm sure sensei will add a few things to our trainers' schedule to spice things up."

"I guess you're right." Kenji sighed before nodding, grabbing another sandwich and taking a bite. "Anyway, I hope this Hayate guy trains me. I heard through the grapevine that he's one of Konoha's Kenjutsu Masters so the guy must have a great training program for someone like me."

"Good for you, Kenji." said Haku, happy for his surrogate brother before wincing when he remembered his training program under the sadistic Demon of the Blood Mist. "I know Sano will also put me through the ringer. He trained me for 7 years so I know what to expect."

"Damn, I wish I know who my new sensei is going to be. I hope he's good." Naruto grouched.

"Considering that this is Hari-sensei we are talking about, you're going to get your butt kicked from here to Suna." Kenji supplied helpfully.

Naruto paled before chuckling weakly. "I'm sure you're exaggerating, Kenji."

Kenji raised an eyebrow. "Who are you trying to convince, bro?"

"Damn." Naruto cursed.

* * *

It was an hour later that Hari apparated to the Hokage's office to see the aged leader talking to Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"Mahora Hari reporting as promised, Hokage-sama." he said somewhat cheekily before turning to the other person in the room. "Jiraiya. Still a pervert, I see."

"Of course. Were there any doubts?" Jiraiy said a little too proudly.

"No." Hari deadpanned as he fished out a notebook from his vest's hidden pocket. "So, do we have anything to talk about before I start my report?"

"Proceed with your report first, Hari-kun. After that, we will discuss something important about the coming _event_. Could you please use your _mahoujutsu_ to keep unwanted people from hearing anything?" the Sandaime asked Hari who simply waved his hand, casting a privacy bubble around the room. He also made a special point in putting the four ANBUs hiding in the room under a sleep spell to keep them out of the loop.

"Done. I hope you don't mind that I placed the four ANBUs to sleep." Hari said with a smile before frowning when he saw the questioning look on the Hokage's face. "What?"

"I only have three ANBUs, Hari."

"Three?" Hari tensed before summoning where he sensed the ANBUs where hiding, flying out of the shadows while unconscious. He cast a leviosa to keep them floating in mid-air in front of the trio. "Well, there are four of them so one of them should not be in this room at all."

The Hokage stood up from his seat and walked towards his floating guards. He recognized Cat, Bear, and Boar but the blank-masked ANBU made him curse like a sailor.

"Damn." the Sandaime cursed. "Danzo disobeyed my order."

Hari saw the Hokage and Jiraiya sporting grim faces as they looked at the blank-masked ANBU. "Am I missing something here?" he asked curiously.

"The blank-masked ANBU you captured should not even exist. Those masks belong to an organization called ROOT that I disbanded when the Third Shinobi War ended. ROOT was created by Danzo, training emotionless shinobi for high-profile missions. I immediately disbanded the program when I discovered the inhumane training program Danzo subjected them to." the Sandaime growled. "I will have Danzo's head for this."

"Don't be hasty, sensei. I don't think this is a good time to rat Danzo out." Jiraiya said hastily earning him a glare from the aged leader.

"Explain, Jiraiya." the Sandaime barked angrily before he felt his rage dying down. He looked at Hari questioningly who was pointing a finger at him.

"I hit you with a calming charm, Hokage-sama. In my years of experience, decision made in haste and anger is always doomed to fail." Hari pointed out with a smile.

"Thanks, Hari-kun."

"No problem, Hokage-sama." said Hari as he snapped his fingers causing the ANBUs and the spy to fly back to where they were before he summoned them. He conjured his favorite leather chair and sat down. "Penny!"

A house elf appeared with a pop which startled Jiraiya to the point that he screeched like a girl. This made the Sandaime and Hari chuckle.

"Thank you for coming, Penny. Could you please serve some refreshments? The usual if you will."

"Yes, Hari-sama." said Penny, using the honorifics commonly used in the Elemental Nations. She snapped her fingers causing trays of sweets to appear on the Hokage's table, as well as tea, Butterbeer, and a bottle of Kumo's finest Sake. "Anything else, Hari-sama?"

"That's all, Penny. Thank you." Hari thanked the elf who bowed before popping out of the room. "Alright, let's just relax and discuss things while we eat."

"Good idea." said the Hokage as he immediately grabbed an éclair and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. He moaned in happiness as the sweet chocolate invaded his taste buds. "This is heaven."

"That was weird." said Jiraiya, not really used to seeing his former sensei acting like a sweet-deprived teenager. He poured himself some _sake_ and took a drink. "So, can we hear your report, Hari?"

Hari nodded before placing the half-empty Butterbeer on the table. He turned a few pages on his notebook until he found the page that contained his findings.

"I think I'll forgo the treatment of those who were injured during the exam, is that alright?" He got a nod from the two shinobi in the room. "Great. Now, since Anko's cursed seal is inaccessible to me at the moment…"

"Why is it inaccessible?" Jiraiya interrupted.

"Simple. She didn't want anyone touching it, much less seeing the hickey." Hari replied with a shrug. "As I was saying, since I don't have access to Anko's cursed seal, I took advantage of the one on Sasuke instead. Also, I thought this was a better since I'm sure that the snake-faced pedo upgraded the damn thing so Anko's is seriously outdated. Anyway, the cursed seal on Sasuke is a combination of an unknown enzyme, fuuinjutsu, and Orochimaru's soul…" he explained everything he learned of the cursed hickey and its affect on the victim. When he was done, the two infamous shinobi were sporting looks of disgust, grudging admiration, and some anger thrown in for good measure.

"This is…worrisome news." said the Sandaime. "I think what you found fits the information we were able to uncover when we raided one of his labs."

"What did you find?" Hari asked immediately, conjuring a pen to add the new information to his notes.

"Orochimaru is obsessed with immortality. In fact, all of his grotesque human experiments were geared towards finding means to gain eternal life. To think that he succeed through this indirect method." the Sandaime said sadly. "If the information you have is correct then Orochimaru's method of immortality is to steal someone's body and possess them. Maybe this is the reason why he experimented on all those bloodline. In fact, his second study is practically the reason why he attacked and marked Uchiha Sasuke."

"Second study?" Hari asked the aged leader but it was Jiraiya who answered.

"Orochimaru is desperate to learn all the jutsus in the world. There are two ways to do that. One is to do it the hard way, learn jutsus after jutsus and train with them until you reach mastery; or two, a bloodline that copies other people's jutsus. This means acquiring the Sharingan. This is the reason why he was so desperate to study the Uchiha Clan in the first place. In fact, my spy network revealed that my former teammate once targeted Uchiha Itachi but was soundly defeated in battle. Since Itachi is out of his league, he set his eyes on the next best thing…Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke."

"Ah," finally realizing the point of the history lesson. "Using the hickey as a medium, Orochimaru can possess Sasuke's body and achieve two of his goals – to extend his lifespan and use the ultimate copying doujutsu to acquire all the shinobi techniques in the world."

"That about sums it up." Jiraiya said grimly.

"Alright. That answer that question why he came to the village to give Sasuke a hicket but why is he planning to invade Konoha?" Hari asked rhetorically. "If I was him, I'd abduct Sasuke, train the kid then possess him when he is at his peak power. Why go through the farce of attacking the village? What does he hope to gain?"

"Revenge." the Sandaime whispered.

"Revenge? What for?" Hari asked somewhat incredulously. "As far as I'm concerned, it was Orochimaru who wronged the village, not the other way around."

"I was the one who discovered Orochimaru's experiment and I was aiming to kill him that day." the Sandaime said with a regretful sigh. "However, my heart failed me since I couldn't push through with the act of killing my student. Call it an old man's folly but he was my student at that time." A determined glint appeared in his eyes. "However, I will make sure that I correct my mistake the next time we meet."

"Hm, if that is the case then he will most likely target you during the exams with the annihilation of the village as a secondary objective." Hari said with a satisfied smile on his face making the two look at him curiously. "I'm no strategist but with the Hokage here as bait, we can practically trap the snake and bring him down. However it is hard for us to do that since we don't know what he is capable of. With an army behind him, who knows what sick abilities they have at their disposal." He turned to Jiraiya. "Do you have any news from your spies about Otogakure's movements?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I have nothing at the moment. Orochimaru hid his new village so well that even my toads cannot find it. All I know is that his village is somewhere in Rice Country. Other than that, we don't have a clue where it might be."

Hari nodded. "Hm, if you're that desperate to find Orochimaru then we can practically tag one of his shinobi with a tracer. When they return to their hidden village, we can easily find its location through it." Hari mused. "However, that would only work if Orochimaru makes an escape. We either finish Orochimaru off during the invasion or let him escape to kill him later with the rest of his cohorts. Those are our options for now."

"A sound plan but I think it would be the latter. Orochimaru is as slippery as a snake as he is their summoner. He will surely have a contingency plan just in case the invasion fails or if he fails to assassinate sensei. If that does happen then you can put a tracer on his underlings so we can find him later. In fact, why don't you put a tracer on Orochimaru himself? That would make tracking him a lot easier to deal with." Jiraiya suggested.

Hari shook his head. "That might work but it won't. The tracer I have in my possession attaches to a person's skin. I know there is a spell that allows you to tag a person through their soul signature but I don't know how to do that yet nor do I know what the spell is." Hari told him with a sigh. "I'll try to send one of my elves to my old world to see if they can find a book about that."

"That would be appreciated, Hari-kun." the Sandaime said gratefully before pouring himself a cup of tea.

Hari closed his notebook before giving the Toad Sage a serious look.

"So, Jiraiya, what are you planning to teach Naruto?" he asked the Sannin who was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm not sure." Jiraiya said a bit hesitantly.

"What? You mean to say that you are taking over the apprenticeship without planning about his training program?" Hari all but growled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shove a lightning bolt down your arse, you git!"

Jiraiya raised his hand as a sign of surrender. "Don't be hasty. I already have something in mind to teach the kid. I just want to know what he's capable of so I know where I stand as his new sensei." he explained to the irate wizard. He knew that he was stronger than Hari in terms of shinobi skills but the man had a few aces up his sleeve that would make an S-rank rogue shinobi pause before making a move.

"You better." Hari threatened before realizing something. "So, are you going to tell him about his parents?"

"What do you mean?" Jiraiiya said a bit defensively while the Sandaime paled.

Hari narrowed his eyes at the clearly nervous duo.

"I am Naruto's healer, Jiraiya, so I took the liberty of checking Naruto's blood to find out who his parents were. Considering that I have the entirety of the hospital's archive at my beck and call, I was able to trace the boy's lineage. In fact, I could even do it using a potion if I wanted to. Anyway, I know his father is the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and his mother was one of Konoha's most powerful kunoichi, Uzumaki Kushina. So yes, I know who his parents are." He deadpanned.

"Uh, no, I don't plan to tell the boy." Jiraiya hastily blurted out.

"And why not?" Hari asked with a bit of heat in his voice, his magic and chakra reacting to his ire causing strands of electricity to appear around him that made Jiraiya gulp.

The Sandaime answered, deciding to cut this argument short before his office got trashed beyond recognition.

"You have to understand, Hari, Naruto is still too young to know about his parents. If he mentions them in public then you can be sure that he's going to be swamped with assassination attempts from Iwa and Kumo. I think it is too early to inform him about his parents." he explained to the irate Mahora.

"Uh huh." He deadpanned "If he was the Naruto that just graduated from the Academy then I agree with your reasoning. However, the Naruto now is a completely different case. Keep in mind that I know the boy inside and out. The reason why he trusts me is because of my honesty, not that I need to change, mind you, since I find the truth a refreshing experience than a bold-faced lie. Trust me. Naruto can handle the information. If you want to have a good working relationship with the gaki then you need to tell him everything."

Jiraiya sighed. He couldn't deny the fact that Hari was right.

"Fine. I'll talk to the gaki about it. Besides, I promised Minato that I'll teach the boy his techniques before he died. This includes the Toad Contract as he is destined to be their next summoner.

Hari chuckled. "You might want take a rain check about the toads in regards to Naruto." he told the confused Jiraiya.

The Sandaime palmed his face. "Damn. I knew I forgot to tell him something." he mumbled to himself but the Sannin heard him quite clearly.

"Tell me what?" Jiraiya asked with a bit of annoyance in his tone. Being a spymaster, not knowing something was a hit to his ego.

"Well, Naruto already signed a summoning contract." replied the Sandaime sheepishly.

"He what?" Jiraiya all but screamed.

"Are you deaf too? Sheesh. You old people tend to overreact. Like what Hokage-sama said, Naruto already signed a summoning contract." Hari told the shocked Toad Sage before downing the rest of his drink. "And if you must know, he signed one with the tigers."

"This is going to complicate things." muttered Jiraiya in a dejected voice.

Hari raised an eyebrow. "How can a summoning contract complicate things? If nothing, having an animal summon is a boon to any shinobi."

"I rather not talk about it." Jiraiya said evasively.

Hari looked at Jiraiya for a moment before he realized something.

"I think I know why you are adamant in letting the gaki sign the Toad Contract. You're talking about the _key_ to the Kyuubi's seal, aren't you?" he asked, his face triumphant.

"How in the world did you know that?" shouted Jiraiya, shocked. This time, the glass window rattled from the volume. It was only thanks to the privacy bubble around the office that stopped everyone within the vicinity of the tower from hearing.

"I am a Mahora. I have certain…spells that allows me to accurately diagnose anything I want. I targeted the Kyuubi's seal with a powerful diagnostic spell with most of my magic backing it up. I found out that the seal is in the form of a gate and a lock. Ergo, if there is a lock then it only stands to reason that it comes with a key." Hari said with a roll of his eyes. "I also made the connection when I remembered the books I read about the Kyuubi's attack. It said that the Yondaime fought Kyuubi while riding on top a gigantic _toad_. So again, ergo number two, if the Yondaime created a gate-type seal to hold the Kyuubi then the key should be somewhere safe, like for example, in the hands of his summon animal?"

"You're too smart for your own good." Jiraiya all but growled. "Let me guess, Naruto knows this?"

Hari shook his head. "No. I don't want Naruto to even contemplate about experimenting with the seal. He already has his hands full in trying to adapt to the Kyuubi's chakra." He immediately cast a silencing spell on Jiraiya since the man was about to shout again. "Yes, Naruto knows about the Kyuubi, he and the Kyuubi had a deal. He can channel a small amount of Kyuubi's chakra to get himself acclimated to its potency, and yes, I know all about it since I am supervising his training in that area. I will remove the spell I cast on you if you behave. Agree?"

Jiraiya glared at Hari before nodding. Hari removed the spell while smirking at the man.

"This is going to be complicated. In order for Naruto to channel more of the Kyuubi's chakra, he needs the key to loosen the lock. The only way to access the key is to become the Toad's summoner." explained Jiraiya. "And I also promised Minato that I'm going to pass the Toad Contract to Naruto as his successor."

"Why don't you just get the key from the toads?" Hari asked curiously.

"It doesn't work that way, Hari-kun." Sarutobi butted in. "In order to acquire something from your animal summon, you have to be in a pact with them. They won't comply with anyone outside the contract. That is the reason why Jiraiya, as well as Minato, wants Naruto to become the next Toad Summoner so he would have access to the toad's abilities and the key to the Kyuubi's seal."

"Ah." said Hari, finally realizing what Jiraiya was getting at. "Is there something wrong in signing another contract if you're already committed to one?"

Jiraiya thought for a bit before answering.

"I'm not sure. There has never been an instance where a shinobi signed two contracts since summon animals are rare."

"Great. If that is the case then summon the boss of the toads while Naruto summons the boss of the tigers. Let the two hammer it out." Hari suggested.

"You know, I didn't think of that." Jiraiya admitted making Hari smirk.

"Not surprising. You're geared to girls, boobs, and the rest of the female anatomy. Rational thinking and common senses doesn't have any room to grow in that trash bin you call a brain." Hari pointed out with a grin causing the Sandaime to let out a belly laugh.

"I hate you." Jiraiya growled at Hari who merely relaxed on his seat with a content smile on his face.

"Thank you." Hari said expansively before eyeing the two in the room. "Let's get back to our discussion about the pedophile's hickey. I'm going to study it for a few more days before I attempt to remove it from Sasuke." He turned to the Sandaime. "It would be much appreciated if you can lend me the notes you were able to salvage from Orochimaru's lab before you destroyed it. There might be some clues there on its creation so I can reverse engineer a removal technique for it."

"You know how to remove it?" Jiraiya asked with some surprise. He spent a month studying the cursed seal on Anko trying to find a way to get rid of it to no avail.

"Let me rephrase that. I can't remove the seal in its entirety since it is already anchored to Sasuke's chakra pathways. However, I can remove Orochimaru's soul deep within the seal so we won't have to worry about the snake taking control of the boy's body. I am confident I can get rid of the seal as a whole but I need to study it first."

"Understood. I'll call Fawkes tomorrow so he can give you the documents you need." said the Sandaime with a nod. "I'll assign this to you as a priority S-rank mission. Try to find a way to safely remove the cursed seal from Uchiha Sasuke. And if the process is successful, duplicate it on Anko's cursed seal."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hari agreed with a smirk. An easy S-rank mission tagged to his name. Sweet deal. He turned to Jiraiya. "Anyway, come by the compound in two days. I already gave my team two days to rest so you can have Naruto after that."

"Can I just drop by your place?" Jiraiya asked with a bit of hesitation. "I heard there is a…protection of sorts around your compound that made it impossible for unwelcome visitors to enter."

"I wouldn't be inviting you if you're not allowed." Hari said with sarcasm. "I'll adjust the wards tonight to let you in. Will you be training Naruto in the compound or somewhere else?"

"Hm. I'm not really sure yet. I plan to train Naruto in using the Kyuubi's chakra but since you already have that well in hand then I guess the next best thing is to hone what Naruto already knows. Maybe I can teach him one of his father's signature techniques to give him an edge in the exam." Jiraiya said with a thoughtful frown on his face.

Hari cocked his head to the side. "Which one? The Rasengan or the Hiraishin?"

"I can't teach Naruto the Hiraishin since Minato didn't teach me its schematics. I'll be teaching Naruto the Rasengan if we can squeeze it the month." Jiraiya answered before turning to the Sandaime. "I'm planning to give the gaki his father's notes if he made Chuunin. Is that acceptable?"

"Why are you asking me? Hari is Naruto's guardian now." the Sandaime said with a shrug. He wasn't worried if Naruto got his hands on his father's notes and techniques. It was part of his legacy after all.

Hari shrugged when Jiraiya turned to him. "If you think he is ready for his father's techniques then by all means, Jiraiya. I may be Naruto's guardian but I made it a rule not to coddle the boy. Besides, you're already his sensei so the decision is up to you." he said while summoning another bottle of Butterbeer to his hands. He opened it with a trickle of magic before taking a drink. "I suggest that you help Naruto in the Sealing Arts since he's showing a bit of interest in that subject. From what I know, you are Konoha's leading Seal Master so you're the best one to teach Naruto so he wouldn't end up injured because of a botched seal."

Jiraiya was surprised. The boy was interested in sealing? It seems that some of Minato's interest was passed to the boy even if he wasn't around to raise his son.

"Great. If Naruto is interested in Seals then he is already on his way to learning the Hiraishin." he said with an excited nod. "I'll drop by in two days to pick up the boy. I think I'll bring him to one of my old training ground outside the village for some privacy. Is that alright?"

Hari shrugged. "You're training him so do as you see fit. However, I'll add a few things for Naruto to learn from my end. His training with me might be finished but there are some things I want him to learn to help him in the future."

"What is it about?" JIraiya asked curiously.

"Nature Transformation. Naruto can already produce wind chakra using willpower and luck. I want to hone that ability of his through some exercise I got from Asuma to train his Wind Manipulation to a degree that he can consciously bring it out in a moment's notice. I'll write down the training program in a scroll to take with him. Allocate at least three hours a day for it. That should be enough with his shadow clones."

"Done." said Jiraya before empting the cup in a single gulp, replaced it on the table before making his way to the window. "I'll come by in two days. Make sure he's packed for a month of training."

"Sure sure." Hari said with a nod. Jiraiya turned and exited the room via the window. The Mahora clan head turned to the Sandaime. "I forgot to ask the pervert. Is there any new intel regarding the coming…event?"

"Nothing new for now so we will be sticking to the plan."

"Right. Is there anything else?"

"No. We are done for the day. Keep me posted on your progress on the cursed seal."

"Will do, old man. Ja ne." said Hari before apparating out of the office towards the hospital. He wanted to check on Hinata and Sasuke before calling it a day.

* * *

Hari entered Hinata's room in the hospital when someone tackled him in a hug.

"Omph!" he grunted before looking down to see Hanabi.

"It's good to see you too, Hanabi-chan." Hari greeted the little firecracker and patting her on the head.

"Hari-sama. Is nee-san alright?" Hanabi asked worriedly.

"She is already recovering, Hanabi-chan, so there's nothing to worry about." Hari assured the girl making her nod and let go before making her way towards her unconscious sister's bedside. "Hiashi-san, Hitomi-san." he addressed the two adults in the room.

"Hari-san." Hiashi nodded to the man. "Is my daughter alright?"

"What happened to her?" asked Hitomi before Hari could answer.

"You're daughter suffered from a Juuken strike to the heart." Hari revealed to the worried couple. Killer Intent flooded the room before it disappeared when Hari hit an angry Hiashi with a potent calming charm.

"Did Neji do this?" Hiashi said somewhat calmly but anyone who heard him could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.

"Who else?" Hari said with a shrug.

"So you mean my daughter is dying?" Hitomi cried out, tears pooling in her eyes. A Juuken strike to the heart was instant death. Those who survive suffer for a while before dying.

"I didn't say she was dying, Hitomi-san. I just said that she got hit by a Juuken strike to the heart." Hari admonished the woman. "Your daughter is alright now. I already healed the damaged heart and she is currently recuperating to get back some of her lost energy. I gave her a potion to put her to sleep for two days. It should be enough for her to recover completely though I suggest that you don't train her or put her under anything strenuous for a few days since her heart was just healed."

The couple sighed in relief.

"I really need to talk with Neji. His hatred of the Main Branch is starting to get out of hand." said Hiashi while his wife agreeing with him.

"You should have done that years ago, dear." she admonished her husband.

Hiashi sighed. "I know but my guilt for putting my brother in that position stopped me every time I think about it." he admitted.

"I think you need to listen to your wife, Hiashi-san. I don't condone comrades trying to kill each other even if it is in a tournament." Hari told the man with a bit of heat in his voice. "I suggest that you do what you can for Neji to get that meter-long stick out of his ass or I'm going to do something to discipline him and it won't be pretty."

Hiashi gulped seeing the power rolling off the man that made his hair stand on edge.

"I will talk to Neji later, Hari-san. You have my solemn promise."

"See that you do." said Hari before firing a diagnostic spell on the Hinata while he wrote on the clipboard to record his findings. "Your daughter is currently in a deep sleep. As I said earlier, she will sleep until tomorrow or the next day. I'll have one of the nurses supply you with some pain relief potions just in case she suffers from chest pains. I may have healed the damage in her heart but some of the muscles there are still damaged so some pains are possible. It is nothing to worry though since it is something of a cramp or a bruised muscle if nothing else."

"Thank you, Hari-san." Hitomi said with a bow of respect with Hiashi giving him a nod version of it.

"Welcome." said Hari with a smile. "I expect that you bring Hanabi to my office in two weeks for her monthly check-up. I hope you didn't overdo her training again, Hiashi-san. I had to treat her for bruises last time. "

"Just the usual." Hiashi said with a shrug causing Hanabi to beam at him. "She is making great progress in the Earth-based Juuken due to her affinity. Hitomo is training Hinata in Water-based Juuken being a water affinity herself." he said the last part with a sigh that made Hari snicker.

"The Elders giving you problems again I take it?"

"I am Clan Head so there is nothing they can do about it." Hiashi said smugly causing Hari to smirk.

"That you are. Those old geezers tend to be biased in their view of the family taijutsu. Juuken is rigid taijutsu style since Hyuugas are known to have earth as their main affinity. Those who have water affinity will have problem with the standard training so modification is needed. Why the Elders didn't realize that, I will never know." said Hari as he shook his head in exasperation.

Hitomi sniffed. "They are idiots so don't except rationality from them." she said haughtily causing the two adults in the room to snicker with Hanabi looking at them as if they were crazy.

* * *

**End of Chapter 20**

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto**

* * *

**Chapter 21: Things Happen When You Black Out**

* * *

Naruto barely caught the punch that would have broken his jaw with an open palm before counterattacking with a vicious kick that Jiraiya easily swept aside. He felt a hand grip the front of his shirt before his vision flipped upside down before feeling the pain on his back. Heeding his instincts screaming at him, Naruto immediately rolled out of the way as an axe kick brutally tore the ground where he was lying a mere second ago. He rolled to a standing position before going into a defensive stance of his Tiger Fist, ready for the next attack.

He had been training with Jiraiya for a week now after he was introduced to the man by his former sensei. Instead of teaching him something new, Jiraiya training method involves learning all of Naruto's capabilities through a no-holds barred spar using every technique the boy knew to come out alive while honing his fighting experience to unprecedented levels. Naruto cursed the first few days of continuous sparring but couldn't deny the fact that fighting with an S-rank shinobi thrilled him to no end. He already saw different methods in which his Tiger Fist could be improved thanks to the using it continuously in a fight and the Toad Sage pointing out weaknesses and flaws to correct.

For Naruto, Jiraiya was something of a contradiction. The guy was obviously a first-class fighter – his physical strength was off the charts despite how old he was, ninjutsu that could put many A-rank shinobi to shame, fighting experience that would give Gai and Kakashi a run for their money, and a boundless stamina that almost trumped his own. On the opposite side of the coin, Jiraiya was a pervert who spent most of his time peeping on hot springs. He called this little activity as 'research' for his Icha Icha series.

Naruto tried to dodge and block a brutal frontal attack from the Toad Sage before one got through his guard that hit him on the chest, feeling a few of his ribs crack from the strength behind it. He recovered from the attack and did a back-flip, a maneuver that he used many times, but Jiraiya easily saw through the feint and moved his head back to avoid Naruto's boot from hitting his chin. Completing the flip, Naruto jumped back while flipping through hand seals. Since taijutsu wasn't working, he decided to up the ante a bit with a little bit of ninjutsu.

"_**Fuuton: Drilling Air Bullet!"**_ shouted Naruto as he punched his gut, releasing half a dozen balls of highly compressed wind. However, Jiraiya saw through the attack way before Naruto completed his technique.

"_**Doton: Earth Bullets."**_ exclaimed Jiraiya, finishing the required hand seals in a blink before releasing his chakra. Balls of compressed earth flew out from the ground and collided with Naruto's attack. Both cancelled each other out with a small explosion and causing dust and debris to fall on the two combatants.

"_**Fuuton: Great Breakthrough!"**_ Naruto spread his arms, palms forward, to launch a strong gust of wind to blow the man back to give him a bit of breathing room and time for a counterattack.

However, Jiraiya slammed his hands on the ground causing a wall of earth to appear in front of him, easily stopping Naruto's wind technique. The blonde was about to fire off another barrage of air bullets when he felt pain erupt from his back when Jiraiya used _Shunshin_ to get behind him to launch a chakra-enhanced kick. Naruto skidded a few times before coming to a stop. He was about to get up when he felt cold steel on his neck.

"Give up, gaki." Jiraiya said calmly, holding a kunai over Naruto's jugular. The boy grunted in irritation for losing again before nodding his defeat. Smirking, Jiraiya helped the boy up on his feet.

"I lost again." the blonde jinchuuriki said in irritation that made Jiraiya smirk.

"_That_ is the reason why we are sparring, kid. You might be stronger than your average Genin but you lack the experience to use all the skills you have. The week of non-stop sparring was to help you acquire the necessary experience to push your body to the limit and apply everything you learned in an all-out fight, allowing you to form different strategies on the fly and improving your use of your Tiger Fist." Jiraiya explained. "Besides, compared to how you fared when we started, you could now last for a whole ten minutes at half my strength."

Naruto nodded, couldn't help but agree with the man's assessment. He lasted less than a minute, forty seconds to be exact, during his first spar with the Toad Sage. The second was a bit of an improvement, adding five seconds to his time. He felt his instincts adapt to the man's unpredictable moves as he came up with new combinations for his own. If he lasted ten minutes at the end of the week then he could easily say that he improved.

"So what's the next on the list, sensei? We still have twenty more days to train." Naruto said with a bit of excitement since learning from a well-known S-rank shinobi was something only a few could attain.

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile at the boy, pride clearly swimming in his eyes. Hari definitely did a good job raising the kid from scratch. Judging from the spar they just had, lasting for ten minutes this time, the boy was clearly mid to high Chuunin in terms of strength with only his lack of experience pulling him down. Besides, ten minutes against an S-rank at half power was definitely an achievement. Also, the boy was definitely his parents' son. He was practically absorbing everything he could teach him and doesn't make the same mistake twice after pointing out his mistakes and weaknesses. He couldn't deny the fact that the boy wouldn't be an unstoppable force in the future if he continued with his current training regime. Minato and Kushina would have been proud.

"Settle down, brat. It's already getting dark so why don't we go back to camp and call it a day. Training will continue tomorrow." Jiraiya suggested as he made his way towards their make shift camp deep into the forest. They were camped in a clearing near the Valley of the End since he wanted to train Naruto in a quiet place without any disturbance.

"It's still early, ero-sennin!" Naruto whined.

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched at hearing his new nickname. When Naruto found out that he was the author of the acclaimed (to perverts) Icha Icha, he immediately latched on to that fact and gave him the nickname. Damn the boy!

"Rest is an integral part of training, brat. I know that you still have stamina to spare and Kyuubi is practically healing you with whatever damage you incurred during the fight but you need to give yourself time to relax." Jiraiya told the blonde in a no-nonsense tone.

Naruto nodded immediately, hearing the seriousness in the man's tone. If there was one thing he learned of Jiraiya, he was a great teacher and was always honest with his intentions. Besides, he had it drilled into him by Hari to always listen to a sensei especially when it concerned his training. His former sensei and clan head never lead him astray and if Hari trusted this man to train him then he would to.

"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei." agreed Naruto as he followed the man to their camp. He went to his pack and took out a scroll and opened it. He took out a black matchbox from the storage seal and laid it on the ground, channeling a bit of his chakra into the object causing it to grow into trunk. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of Butterbeer and a bottle of liquor, tossing the latter to the Toad Sage who caught it with ease. "Do you want me to prepare dinner now, sensei?"

"Maybe in a few hours, gaki." Jiraiya answer before taking a long drink directly from the bottle. He hoped Hari packed those Firewhiskeys of his but the man was hoarding it since he was running low. "Hari told me that you're already training to channel your tenant's chakra. Is this true?"

Naruto nodded after drinking half of the bottle's contents.

"I am, Jiraiya-sensei. Actually, I will be training with Kyuubi's chakra tonight after dinner for two hours."

"How come I didn't sense you using Kyuubi's chakra?" Jiraiya asked with surprise. If the boy was channeling the bijuu's chakra without him sensing anything then he needed to find out how this was done.

Naruto raised his hand to show Jiraiya a silver bracelet.

"This is a charm, Hari-sensei made for me. As long as I'm wearing this then no one would be able to sense Kyuubi's chakra. I don't know how he did it but it worked since you didn't feel anything.

Jiraiya whistled as he studied the bracelet, noticing the glittering drawings on the surface. "Nice. So that little thing only masks Kyuubi's chakra and not your own?" he asked the boy who nodded.

"Correct. Hari-sensei told me that he could easily add the spell to mask my chakra but it wouldn't be beneficial to my goal. If I wanted to hide my chakra then I needed to do it the shinobi way – through training." Naruto said dryly.

"Good philosophy." Jiraiya agreed. "How much have you adapted so far?"

"Two tails for thirty-five minutes." Naruto answered immediately.

"Impressive." Jiraiya said, nodding appreciatively. Two tails could be considered an achievement considering he was channeling the potent chakra of the most powerful bijuu in the Elemental Nations. "Are you aiming for three tails before the tournament?"

Naruto shook his head in negative. "No, I am sticking to two tails until I can hold it active for an hour without the strain. Currently, I can channel two tails but my body ends up tired and bruised afterwards." he told his sensei before his eyes took on a glazed look. Jiraiya immediately noticed it since Hari informed him that Kyuubi could hold limited conversation with the boy.

"Kyuubi said anything?" Jiraiya asked in a deceptively calm tone.

"Kyuubi said that I am already doing excellent progress and my healing factor is working overtime to adapt to the stress of handling two tails. He said that I would be able to master the two tails in a week if I keep it up."

"Good. I think it would be best to have dinner early. I feel that what I'm about to tell you will keep us awake for some time." Jiraiya said cryptically while mentally preparing for the revelation and the fireworks afterwards. Despite Hari's training, the Mahora clan head warned him of Naruto's rather short temper. Considering the blonde was a jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, the fireworks afterwards would be devastating to say the least.

"What is it?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Later. Prepare dinner and I'll tell you."

Naruto grumbled but did as asked. It wasn't hard to prepare dinner since everything was already prepared thanks the Mahora elves. All he needed to do was bring it out from the storage seal and resize the trunk that held all their food. Besides, only those who had magic in their system could undo the enchantment placed on the trunk. Despite being a squib, Naruto had enough magic running through his veins to work the enchantment. It didn't take long for Naruto to serve dinner for the two of them and the duo ate in silently companionship.

* * *

Jiraiya burped as he laid down the empty plate beside him, a sigh escaping his lips. If he knew that Hari's elves were this good in cooking, he would have visited Konoha plenty of times just to enjoy the delicious food. He saw Naruto already done with his dinner and waiting for him patiently to get things started. He sighed since this was going to be an emotional night.

"I promised your parents, especially your father before he died that I would tell you their identities only after you reach a sufficient level of strength. I know you asked the Sandaime plenty of times about your parents and he would change the subject every time." Jiraiya started, noticing the look of understanding and irritation on his student's face.

"You know, I really wondered why he kept doing that." Naruto said with some annoyance.

"Don't blame the old man, gaki. _We_ did it for a reason." Jiraiya chastised the boy who had a hurt look on his face.

"What reasons are those?" Naruto asked with a bit of anger.

"Reason one is that you were too young to know it." said Jiraiya, flaring his killing intent a bit to shut the boy up when he opened his mouth. It worked since the boy closed his mouth with an audible click but the glare was there. "Besides, could you honestly tell me that you wouldn't have shouted it to the whole village if we told you who your parents were when back when you were six?"

Naruto growled as he nodded. "Fine. Why all the secrecy?"

"I'll get to that." Jiraiya promised. "The second reason was your safety. Your parents were powerful shinobi, powerful enough to merit the hate of other villages. If they found out that your parents had a son then you would have been swamped with assassins before you could blink. For your safety, and the safety of the village, the Sandaime and I decided that it would be in your best interest to withhold the information until we deemed you ready. In accordance to your father's wishes, we decided that we would tell you when you reach Chuunin or when you reach 18 years old."

"That's…reasonable I suppose." Naruto said doubtfully. "Any other reasons before you're going to tell me who my parents are? And why tell me now? I'm not yet a Chuunin and I'm definitely not 18 yet."

"The reason I'm telling you now is because of Hari. He assured us that you are ready to learn who your parents are." Jiraiya replied.

"Hari-sensei said that?" Naruto asked with happiness.

"He did. He even threatened me if I didn't tell you."

"Sweet. So who are my parents, ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya's face took on a sad expression. "Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, one of the most powerful kunoichi Konoha ever produced. She rivaled Tsunade in strength and her kenjutsu skills were off the charts. In fact, she was given the alias 'Red Hot Habanero' due to her temper and a testament to her swordsmanship. No one survives a direct confrontation with her when her sword was out of her sheath. She was also a Seals Mistress and taught your father the art. I think you got your interest in fuuinjutsu from your parents since both were masters in the Sealing Arts." he said the last part with pride.

"Wow." Naruto said breathlessly. His mom was so cool. "And?"

"Well, your mother is also the second container of Kyuubi."

"What?" Naruto asked with some surprise. Now this was new. "You mean that I'm not the only container of the Kyuubi?"

"No, you're not. You are the third to contain the Kyuubi. The first was Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage, and the second was your mom. You became the bijuu's third container when it was yanked out of your mom's seal after she gave birth to you." Jiraiya informed his apprentice.

"What do you mean it was yanked out of the seal? You mean someone unsealed the fox from my mom?" Naruto asked in shock.

Jiraiya nodded with a frown on his face. "According to the Sandaime, during the night of your birth, someone came into the hidden location where your mother was in labor. A fight ensued resulting in the unsealing of Kyuubi after you were born. That was also the start of the Kyuubi's attack of Konoha."

"So that is the reason why the Yondaime had to seal the fox into me. Do you know who the masked person was?" Naruto asked seriously.

Jiraiya shook his head in negative. "No, we don't. The only description we had of the man was the spiral orange mask and the black cloak he was wearing."

Naruto nodded, filing the information away. "Alright. I now know who my mother is and the reason why you kept her identity a secret so who is my father?"

Jiraiya sighed as he steeled himself. "Your father was the person who sealed the fox inside you before it could destroy the village." he answered in a rush be Naruto heard it all.

"You mean…" said Naruto as his mind finally pieced the puzzle together.

"…the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was your father." Jiraiya continued, unprepared when red chakra erupted from Naruto's shocked form that almost drove him to his knees.

* * *

Hari was pouring over a smaller Konoha version of the Marauder's map, studying where to place the new prank items the twins sent him, when a pop startled him. He looked to see the house elf he assigned to Naruto to watch over the boy's training with Jiraiya. Despite being no longer his apprentice, Hari still treated the blonde as one. He noticed the worried and harried look on the elf's face.

"Something wrong, Nancy?"

"Hari-sama! Hari-sama! Come quick! Naruto-sama be in big trouble!" the elf shrilly announced that brought Hari closer to the edge of being worried.

"What happened?" Hari all but demanded.

"Toad man told Naruto-sama about his parents then Naruto-sama became angry and he brought the red cloak like he was in training but this was stronger."

"Shit!" Hari cursed, finally realizing the extent of what the elf told him. It would seem that learning of his parents brought Naruto to the edge, enough that it brought out the full force of the fox's chakra and destroying whatever control he had over it. "Go to the potion stockroom and get me the standard med kit. Follow when you're done." commanded Hari before apparating out of the room.

* * *

Hari materialized just outside the camp just in time to see Jiraiya being blown back by a surge of red chakra from Naruto. He looked at his former apprentice to see four tails swishing angrily behind him and the boy had this blank look in his eyes as the inherent rage and malice of the Kyuubi's energy completely controlled him. He saw Jiraiya expertly recover from the attack and was trying to get a piece of paper with some symbols on Naruto while dodging ethereal red claws that were aiming to slice him to bits. The wizard's eyes locked onto the glowing bracelet on Naruto's wrist, sighing in relief since the enchantment was holding despite the power Naruto was giving out.

If the bracelet was destroyed then the entire Konoha ANBU and the Sandaime would be down on their individual asses before they could blink.

He needed to stop this before it escalated to something fierce. Hari brought out the Elder Wand and leveled it at Naruto who was giving the Toad Sage crash course in bijuu dodging, not that he needed it since he splendidly dodging Naruto's chakra claws.

"_**BOMBARDA!" **_

The Elder Wand, sensing its master's distress, decided to be helpful. Instead of the light red spell coming out of its tip, the magical energy it added into the spell made it come out something similar to a cannon ball. The spherical bomb impacted the Kyuubified Naruto and exploded with a force that was enough to blow a four-tailed Naruto backwards. Hari took it up a notch as he channeled large amounts of magic into the Elder Wand who was also absorbing whatever ambient energy in the area it could latch on.

"_**BOMBARDA MAXIMA! FULMENS! FULMENS! REDUCTO!**_"

Hari fired off the four spells in rapid succession. The overpowered explosion hex blew Naruto back while the lightning spells penetrated the protective cloak to electrocute the boy, keeping him occupied with volts after volts of pure lightning coursing through his body as he screamed in pain. Finally, the blasting hex opened up a small hole in the bijuu cloak covering Naruto which Jiraiya noticed immediately since the man immediately slapped the tag on the boy's face before activating its effects.

Slowly, but surely, the bijuu cloak receded back into the seal on Naruto's stomach before the boy slumped down to the ground, unconscious. Hari sighed as he stowed the Elder Wand back to its hidden holsters and looked around the destroyed campsite. He growled as he stomped towards the panting Sannin nursing his scorched hand to give him a verbal lashing he would never forget…after healing him of course.

"For an S-rank shinobi, you suck at telling secrets." Hari scolded the white-haired pervert after he finished healing the man of the chakra burns he incurred when he penetrated the cloak to plant the bijuu suppression tag on Naruto to remove whatever influence the Kyuubi had in his system.

"How was I suppose to know that Naruto would take the identity of his father that badly." said Jiraiya as he tried to defend his actions.

"I told you before you left that the Yondaime is Naruto's idol. Of course, don't you think his action is understandable since the person he admired the most was practically the reason why he was hated in his very own village?" Hari deadpanned as he pulled out a vial from the pouch his elf brought him and shoved it to the Sannin's hands. "Drink it." he ordered.

"What's in it?" Jiraiya asked, looking at the vial in his hands suspiciously.

"That's a pepper up potion, dimwit. Your chakra level is quite low so you need it to replenish your energy reserves. If I decided to kill you then poison is way down the list to use." Hari scolded the man before making his way to Naruto and firing a diagnostic charm on his former apprentice before a few curses left his mouth.

"What happened?"

Hari growled but answered anyway. "Naruto is suffering from chakra overload. His coils are cracked due to the amount of Kyuubi's chakra he used when his mind shut down on him. It would take a few days for his healing factor to repair the damage. If it wasn't for that, he would be down for a month and missing the Chuunin Exams." he reported as his mind was assaulted with the information from his spell. He winced. "He is also suffering from chakra burns all over his body but he is healing already. Thankfully, the brat is unconscious or he would be screaming himself hoarse right now. All in all, Naruto wouldn't be dying anytime soon."

"When do you think he would wake up?" Jiraiya asked before downing the potion Hari gave him. He sighed as he felt his chakra reserves filling up at a rapid pace.

"Give it a day or two. It's better that he sleep this off." said Hari as he levitated the boy from the cold forest floor before turning to the Toad Sage. "Let's head back to the compound. I need to make sure that Naruto heals properly before you continue training. Chakra exhaustion is serious but chakra overload is worst. I need to make sure that the gaki is 100% healthy before you do anything to make him blow up again."

Jiraiya scowled. "I said I didn't mean to make him blow up on me."

"You might be a great teacher, Jiraiya of the Sannin, but you're lousy at telling secrets. Remind me not to let you give anyone 'The Talk' or you might end up traumatizing someone in the end."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Hari." said Jiraya, his tone oozing with sarcasm.

"I wasn't trying to be funny. Just telling the truth." Hari said calmly before putting a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder and another on Naruto. He gathered his energy before apparating out of the clearing with his passengers.

* * *

"What hit me?" Naruto breathed out as he woke up groggily to find himself surrounded by water. He was about to ask where he was when a boy answered his first spoken question.

"**You were hit by a total of four tails worth of my chakra, kit." **

Naruto turned his head to find Kyuubi behind his cage looking down at him with an amused expression on his furry face.

"Eh what?" he asked in surprise.

Kyuubi rolled his eyes. **"What was the last thing you remember?"** he asked the confused Naruto who was now standing, totally dry despite how he was lying on the water when he appeared in his mindscape.

"Well…ero-sennin told me who my father is then I sort of blacked out." said Naruto before realizing what he just said, the memory of his conversation with the Toad Sage crashing down on him in full force. "I'm the Yondaime's son. He sealed you inside me!"

Kyuubi growled upon the mention of the man's title. **"So you're his son, huh. I should have noticed that immediately from your looks. But for the life of me, I didn't know why I didn't make the connection."** he added the last part in a silent murmur but it was still loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Wait a minute. You didn't know? I thought you were sealed inside my mother." Naruto pointed out causing the bijuu to huff.

"**Unlike your seal that gives me access to the outside world through your senses, the seal used on your mother was absolute. I was a complete prisoner, chained to a floating rock with my tails and hands pegged down. She doesn't use my chakra nor does she ask for my help. I was metaphorically thrown into the pit with no way out and no contact to the outside world."**

"I didn't know that. Can you tell me what you meant about me getting hit by four tails of your chakra?"

"**I don't really know what happened since I don't have any access to your mental state due to your father's seal. However, whatever did happen resulted in your body pulling in four tails worth of my chakra. It was like a warzone here for a few minutes until something stopped the flow of my chakra into your body."** replied Kyuubi before using one of his tails to point to the various cracks on the walls. **"Those cracks are the result of your chakra coils being damaged by the sudden influx of my chakra into your system. As you can see, they are healing but it will take time since your body is practically working overtime to adapt to the energy you wielded."**

"Huh?" was all Naruto said, not understanding what the fox was trying to say.

"**Stupid. In a nut shell, you forced your body to adapt to large amounts of my chakra. When it's done, you can easily handle two and three tails without problem though you might want to experiment on that before using my energy in battle." **Kyuubi explained patiently.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed before adopting a confused look. "How come I don't remember all of this?"

"**Don't know."** Kyuubi answered with a shrug before his eyes took on an evil glint.

Naruto saw the expression the fox was porting and couldn't help but ask. "What?"

"**Since you're going to be stuck in here until your body fully heals, I think its fine time I give you a crash course on what you can do with my chakra. It's going to be a…marvelous experience." **Kyuubi said before cackling like a loon making Naruto gulp.

* * *

Jiraiya saw his apprentice twitching on the bed. Curiously, he approached the boy and poked an arm, not getting any reaction. He noticed another twitch before looking at Hari in confusion.

"Why is he twitching? I'm no medical expert but I know that twitches aren't common in coma patients." Jiraiya said to the equally confused Mahora.

Hari didn't answer but nodded. He walked over to the comatose teen and placed a finger on his forehead. He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. He stayed in that position for five minutes before he burst out laughing, his now-opened eyes showing mirth.

"Well?" Jiraiya asked immediately, wanting to know what was happening to his student.

Hari cackled that made Jiraiya's hair stand on end. "Let's just say that Naruto is currently training with his tenant and the fox is having the time of his life." he told the man before cackling again.

Jiraiya looked at Hari as if he was crazy. "Are you sure that's alright? Kyuubi might harm him." he pointed out causing Hari to shake his head in negative.

"Trust me. When Naruto wakes up, you're going to have your hands full when the gaki trains with what the fox is teaching him right now." Hari said in amusement before leaving Naruto's room with a nervous Toad Sage trailing after him.

* * *

Naruto woke up with a groan, mentally tired due to the insane 3-day training the fox subjected him to. He thought that Kyuubi's chakra would only give him a power boost but he was dead wrong. Being the demon fox's container, he had the capability to manipulate Kyuubi chakra in a specific way – pure manipulation. That was the reason why he was mentally tired – Kyuubi practically rammed the knowledge of chakra manipulation down his throat and the fox was nothing but merciless because it didn't want a weak container.

He let his eyes roam around his surroundings, recognizing his room in the Mahora compound. Sighing, he got off the bed, wincing slightly as muscle pains started to make themselves known though he knew that they were being healed already. He made his way to the bathroom for a cold shower, letting the cold water wake up his body while his mind focused inwards, checking out his chakra reserves. Despite in a healing coma for three days, his chakra was still half-way filled. He noticed that it noticeably grew again, inwardly cursing that he would have to do chakra control exercises just to get his control back.

It was half an hour later that he exited his bedroom clothed in civilian apparel of blue cargo pants and a black muscle shirt, making his way to the dining area for a well-deserved meal. He was quite hungry and he knew that his reserves would fill up much faster if he had something in his stomach. He noticed the lack of people in the house before sitting himself on his usual place on the large dining table. He called an elf for something to eat which the helper was more than happy to comply. Five minutes later, the table was practically groaning with different food that made him drool. He didn't know how long he ate but he just finished the last of the food and was chugging down a bottle of Butterbeer when his senseis entered.

"Glad to see you're awake, gaki." said Jiraiya as a greeting, seating himself beside the boy and was no longer surprised when a plate of food appeared in front of him. His stay in the Mahora Clan house practically desensitized him of the unusual that was common in a wizarding-shinobi household. He munched on a Tempura before turning to his new student. "How are you feeling?"

"My body feels fine but my mind is still out of whack." Naruto answered honestly causing Hari to chuckle.

"I wouldn't put it past Kyuubi to take it easy on you during your 3-day training." the Mahora clan head pointed out.

Naruto looked at the man with shock. "How did you know, Hari-sensei?" he asked curiously.

Hari rolled his eyes. "I checked your mental state when you entered your coma. I found out that your mind was very active. I scanned your mindscape using a spell and found out that you were training with Kyuubi." he told the blonde. "I didn't bother to make myself known since I don't want to disturb your lessons with the fox."

"What did the Kyuubi teach you?" Jiraiya asked in curiosity and a bit weary since the fox was not good news for anyone in Konoha.

Naruto finished his Butterbeer before starting his explanation.

"Kyuubi gave me a brief overview of what a jinchuuriki should be capable of given adequate time to train with their bijuu. According to him, each jinchuuriki gains certain abilities due to the bijuus they contain. These abilities manifest through the use of their unique chakra. For example, Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, specializes in wind-based techniques and couples it with sand for both offense and defense. The jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata should be capable of using potent fire techniques, far superior than those a shinobi could pull off outside a bloodline. This was why Kyuubi decided to teach me how to use his chakra properly." explained Naruto before raising his hand for the two shinobi to see before pulling out a bit of his tenant's chakra. His fingers now sported red sharp ethereal claws. "Kyuubi gives me the ability to use his chakra and shape it to anything I wish. Unlike other bijuu who holds elemental abilities, Kyuubi is pure chakra manipulation. Meaning, I can do anything I want with his chakra given time, training, and imagination."

"Amazing." Jiraiya breathed out as he studied the claws on his student's fingers. "So you can now manipulate Kyuubi's chakra without bringing out the tails."

Naruto nodded. "Yes but only for small chakra constructs like the Fox Claw as he called it. If, for example, I want to form an extra clawed hand then I need to go into tailed-beast mode since I need large amounts of bijuu chakra to pull it off."

Hari smirked. "What else did the Kyuubi teach you?" he asked his excited student.

"Well, he taught me how to properly control his chakra." Naruto answered excitedly when he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Kyuubi told me that I practically went four tails when my mind shut down. Due to the chakra overload, my body was forced to adapt to the large influx of energy coursing through my coils, hence the 3-day coma. He told me that I can now go up to three tails without worry but four tails would still give me some problems. He warned me not to go into five tails since he sensed something about the seal being in the way. Did my father do anything unique with the seal?" he addressed the last question to his new sensei.

The Toad Sage nodded, happy that his student wasn't going berserk at the mention of the Yondaime.

"That's correct. The reason why I want you to sign the toad contract is to give you access to the key for the _Hakke no Fuin Shiki _and _Shiki Fuuin_ Seal on your stomach. With the key, you can slowly loosen the seal to allow more access to the Kyuubi's chakra. He was right that you won't be able to go above four tails without the seal getting in the way. I don't know what the consequences would be if you try so I suggest you refrain from doing so."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Fine. I have no intentions of going above three tails anyway and I doubt I would need it anytime soon." the boy told the duo with Jiraiya nodding in agreement. Hari, however, had a speculative look on his face that Naruto immediately noticed. "What's on your mind, sensei?"

Instead of answering Naruto, Hari turned to Jiraiya.

"What are you planning to teach Naruto?" he asked the man.

"Well, I plan to teach Naruto the Rasengan since that would give him an edge over the Hyuuga though I doubt that he needed it considering what he's capable of." replied Jiraiya before pulling out a scroll from his pocket. "I also plan to give Naruto his father's journal. It contains all the research Minato did for all of his techniques; this includes the steps for the Rasengan and the levels to achieve Hiraishin." He tossed the scroll to Naruto who caught it with reverence. "That you're legacy, gaki. Learn from your father's footsteps and become a powerful shinobi of Konoha."

Naruto studied the seemingly unassuming scroll in his hands before giving Jiraiya a thankful look.

"Thanks, ero-sensei." he said with a smile that turned into a smirk when Jiraiya twitched. He frowned when he realized something. "Did my mother leave me anything?"

"I'm not really sure. If you want to know then I suggest that you ask the Sandaime about it. I had Minato's journal because he gave it to me before your mother gave birth to you, a just-in-case thing if worst comes to worst. If your mother left you anything then it would be with the Sandaime since he was the one protecting your mother when the Kyuubi attacked."

"Alright." Naruto nodded before giving Hari a questioning look. "You have something in mind, Hari-sensei?"

"Yes. I want you to try to achieve mastery over the four-tailed state before the Chuunin Exams on top of your learning the Rasengan." Hari replied with a devious smile on his face.

"Why?" both Jiraiya and Naruto asked in unison.

"You both know about the coming invasion correct?" he got a nod from the confused duo. "I want Naruto as our trump card. I know Orochimaru would likely use Gaara as the main attacking force. The reason why the Sandaime needed Jiraiya and I at the ready was the possibility of using our summons to counter a fully-realized Ichibi. However, if Naruto masters the four-tailed state then he can easily bring down Shukaku with enough firepower left to deal heavy damage on the invading force. With Naruto taking care of the Ichibi, Jiraiya and I can concentrate on other matters."

"You revised the plan, I take it?" Jiraiya asked shrewdly.

Hari nodded since he already hammered out the details with the Sandaime when Naruto succumbed to his coma.

"I tried to puzzle out why Orochimaru wanted to invade the village and I was able to come up with a set of theories. The first is merely the eradication of the village. The second is to acquire the different jutsus Konoha has in the archives considering how obsessed the pedophile is with techniques. Last, but certainly not the least, is the assassination of his former sensei that stopped him from continuing his research and resulting in his exile. I thought about it while Naruto was in a coma and I realized that all these theories coincide. This is why Hokage-sama and I revised the plan."

"What revisions are we talking about?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"I will be using a powerful illusion spell on Jiraiya that would render him invisible to anyone without magic. He will serve as the Hokage's bodyguard during the third phase of the Chuunin Exam." He turned to Jiraiya and gave the man a serious look. "You are going to be sticking to your senei like glue and I am quite confident that your presence will not be detected. Just in case Orochimaru planned something underhanded to bring the Hokage down, you would be there to counter him or offer assistance if needed."

"That is a very good plan. What will you be doing?" asked Jiraiya with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to help with the counter invasion force that Shikaku devised. With you sticking to the Hokage, only I have the arsenal needed to combat large threats if the pedophile decides to bring out his summons on the village." Hari replied casually before cackling. "Besides, my bears are quite bored and they requested that I bring a few of them out during the invasion."

"You wouldn't mind if I bring some of the tigers out, sensei? The boss asked me to the do the same during the invasion." Naruto asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"I don't mind. The more the merrier I always say." said Hari with a grin on his face mimicked by the blonde.

Jiraiya could only shake his head. Orochimaru was so screwed with two battle-oriented summons against him. He wondered briefly if he could spare chakra to bring out Gamabunta to make this invasion a more memorable experience for his traitorous teammate.

* * *

**End of Chapter 21**

**Please leave a comment or a review. **


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